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THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
DALLAS   ■    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON    •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


THE 


TEACHING   BOTANIST 


A    MANUAL  OF  INFORMATION  UPON 
BOTANICAL  INSTRUCTION 

INCLUDING 

OUTLINES  AND   DIRECTIONS   FOR  A   SYNTHETIC 
GENERAL    COURSE 


BY 

WILLIAM    F.    GANONG,    Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  BOTANY  IN  SMITH  COLLEGE 


SECOND  EDITION 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1915 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1899,  1910, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  June,  1910.     Reprinted 
September,  1912;  December,  1915. 


EDUC. 

PSYCH. 

LIBRARY 

Add'l 


GIFT 


J.  S.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


TTWliflflY    iiii-i 

ED-UC. 

PSYCH. 

LIBRARY 


PREFACE 


Although  this  book  retains  the  title,  the  plan,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  first  edition,  it  has  been  rewritten  almost 
throughout.  When  I  came  to  revise  it,  I  found,  for  one 
thing,  that  I  had  learned  a  good  deal  in  the  interval, 
and,  for  another,  that  progress  in  botanical  education 
in  the  past  decade  had  been  surprisingly  great.  There- 
fore, upon  almost  every  page  it  was  possible  to  make 
some  change  for  the  better.  And  this  bit  of  reminis- 
cence suggests  also  a  prophesy,  to  this  effect,  —  that 
great  as  the  progress  of  the  last  ten  years  has  been,  it  is 
little  in  comparison  with  that  which  the  coming  decade 
will  witness.  I  believe  that  the  next  great  wave  of  botani- 
cal interest  which  will  sweep  over  the  country  will  be  edu- 
cational, and  that  it  will  lift  our  science  into  more  nearly 
its  rightful  place  in  the  life  and  interests  of  the  com- 
munity, and  will  leave  botanical  education  a  recognized 
and  permanent  department  of  botanical  investigation. 
This  word  to  the  ambitious  young  botanist  should  be 
sufficient,  while  as  for  myself,  I  ask  nothing  better  than 
to  have  some  part  in  this  difficult  but  meritorious  service. 

While  I  am  sure  that  in  most  respects  this  edition  is 
a  marked  advance  over  its  predecessor,  it  exhibits  one 

V 

409 


vi  PREFACE 

feature  with  which  I  am  ill  pleased,  and  that  is  its  great 
increase  in  length.  For  this  I  can  only  plead,  in  some- 
what rueful  explanation,  a  reason  suggested  more  than 
once  in  the  following  pages,  —  that  the  aim  has  been  to 
make  the  work  monographic  of  its  subject,  and  the 
subject  has  grown  rapidly  of  late.  The  book  no  doubt 
contains  much  that  to  some  will  seem  needless,  and  to 
others  commonplace ;  but  I  have  reason  to  believe  that 
there  are  those  to  whom  the  same  matters  will  be  new, 
and  contain  something  of  information  and  suggestion. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  edition  I  have  not  hesitated 
to  seek  aid  wheresoever  I  thought  I  could  find  it.  I  have 
made  the  best  use  that  I  could  of  the  many  educational 
books  from  those  of  Asa  Gray  down  to  the  newer  works 
by  my  own  immediate  colleagues.  I  have  also  availed 
myself  of  the  writings,  and  still  more  of  the  advice,  of 
my  two  honored  fellow-craftsmen  in  the  study  of  botani- 
cal-educational problems,  Professor  O.  W.  Caldwell, 
of  the  School  of  Education  in  the  University  of  Chicago, 
and  Professor  F.  E.  Lloyd,  of  the  Alabama  Polytechnic 
Institute,  formerly  of  Teachers  College  in  Columbia 
University,  and  author  of  another  work  upon  the  teach- 
ing of  Botany.  Certain  of  the  illustrations  have  been 
furnished  by  others,  as  acknowledged  at  suitable  places 
in  the  text,  while  the  shaded  line  cuts,  forming  figures 
9,  21,  28,  37,  38,  representing  apparatus  of  my  own 
invention,  have  been  supplied  by  the  makers  of  the 
pieces,  the  Bausch  &  Lome  Optical  Company.    I  have 


PREFACE  Vll 


had  constant  and  loyal  aid  from  the  head  gardener  of 
Smith  College,  Mr.  Edward  J.  Canning,  who  has  not 
only  contributed  the  section  on  window  gardening,  in 
Chapter  VII,  but  has  helped  in  other  ways  by  his  skilled 
interest  in  educational  gardening  generally.  I  have  had, 
also,  an  advantage  of  another  kind  in  the  use  of  the 
unsurpassed  facilities  provided  by  the  Lyman  Plant 
Houses  at  Smith  College, —  a  far-sighted  and  generous 
memorial  gift  which  I  desire  to  see  made  as  widely 
useful  as  possible.  Finally,  one  of  the  greatest  of  my 
obho-ations  is  to  Miss  Helen  A.  Choate,  Assistant  in 
Botany  in  Smith  College,  whose  critical  and  skilful 
reading  of  manuscript  and  proofs  has  been  very  much 
to  the  advantage  of  the  book.  To  all  of  those  I  have 
mentioned,  and  to  some  others  who  have  cheerfully 
furnished  aid  in  minor  ways,  I  wish  here  to  express  my 
appreciative  and  grateful  acknowledgment. 

W.   F.   GANONG. 

Northampton,  Mass., 
April  15,  1910. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction * 

PART   I 

CHAPTERS   ON  SUBJECTS  IMPORTANT  IN 
BOTANICAL  EDUCATION 

I 

On  the  Place  of  the  Sciences  in  Education,  and  of 

Botany  among  the  Sciences 7 

II 

On  the  Question:   What  Botany  is  of  Most  Educa- 
tional Worth  ? 3° 

III 
On  the  Training  and  Traits  of  the  Good  Botanical 

Teacher 5^ 

IV 
On  the  Methods  and  Marks  of  Good  Botanical  Teach- 
ing   -73 

V 
On   Scientific,  mainly  Botanical,    Drawing    and    De- 
scription         89 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

VI 

PAGE 

On  Botanical  Laboratories  and  their  Equipment       .    109 

VII 
On  Botanical  Collections  and  Other  Illustrations  .     141 

VIII 
On  Botanical  Books  and  their  Use        .        .        .        .176 

IX 

On  Some  Common  Errors  Prejudicial  to  Good  Botan- 
ical Teaching 227 

PART    II 

OUTLINES  AND  DIRECTIONS  FOR  A    SYNTHETIC 
GENERAL  COURSE  IN  THE  SCIENCE  OF  BOTANY 

Introduction 249 

DIVISION   I 
The  Structure  and  Functions  of  Plants 

I.  The  Structure  of  Seeds 257 

II.  The  Morphology  of  Seeds  and  Embryos       .         .         .  264 

III.  The  Ecology  of  Seeds 272 

IV.  The  Germination  of  Seeds  and  Growth  of  Embryos  to 

Seedlings         •         .         ......  276 

V.     The  Development  of  Seedlings  into  Adult  Plants        ^ .  283 

VI.     The  Mature  Plant 289 

VII.     The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Winter  Buds     .         .  297 
VIII.     The  Special  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Leaves,  Stems, 

and  Roots -  303 

IX.     The  Tissue  Systems  (or  Anatomy)  of  Plants        .         .  310 


CONTENTS 


XI 


X.  The  Structure  of  the  Cells  of  the  Higher  Plants 

XI.  The  Anatomy  of  Leaves 

XII.  The  Anatomy  of  Stems 

XIII.  The  Anatomy  of  Roots 

XIV.  The  Structure  of  Flowers    . 
XV.  The  Morphology  of  Flowers 

XVI.  The  Ecology  of  Flowers 

XVII.  The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Fruits 


321 
327 
335 
341 
348 
359 
367 
377 


DIVISION   II 


The  Natural  History  and  Classification  of  the  Groups 

OF  Plants 


I. 

II. 
III. 
IV. 

V. 


The  Algae 


The  Fungi  .... 

The  Moss  Plants,  or  Bryophytes 
The  Fern  Plants,  or  Pteridophytes 
The  Seed  Plants,  or  Spermatophytes 


386 
393 

399 
401 

405 


APPENDIX 


The  Principal  Standard  or  Unit  Courses  in  General 
Botany  formulated  by  Representative  Committees 
in  America •        -413 


INTRODUCTION 

This  is  a  book  of  ideals.  In  its  pages  I  have  tried  to 
set  forth  the  chief  factors  involved  in  the  best  of  botani- 
cal teaching,  well  believing  that  it  is  good  for  each  per- 
son to  hitch  his  wagon  to  a  star.  It  is  true  that  we  may 
never  be  able  to  attain  to  these,  any  more  than  to  other 
ideals,  for  all  alike  they  are  veritable  will  o'  the  wisps 
which  waft  themselves  farther  away  just  as  we  reach 
forth  to  grasp  them.  However,  this  matters  but  little, 
since  man  is  made  in  such  fashion  that  pursuit  holds 
more  joy  than  possession,  and  visions  more  charm  than 
realities.  That  we  cannot  attain  to  our  ideals  is,  therefore, 
the  least  of  objections  against  them.  They  have,  how- 
ever, at  least  one  positive  merit.  They  can  serve  as  a 
perennial  balm  for  the  soul,  or  a  kind  of  a  spiritual  ra- 
dium, sending  forth  a  perpetual  emanation  to  keep  work 
and  life  aglow.  Besides,  they  may  be  made  to  do  service 
in  practical  ways,  as  definite  goals  to  be  aimed  at,  or  as 
standards  of  value  to  which  we  may  point  those  objectors 
who  question  the  aim  of  our  efforts.  So,  from  all  points 
of  view  ideals  are  in  place,  and  in  generous  measure,  in  a 
book  that  is  given  to  teaching. 

This  is  a  practical  book.  In  its  pages  I  have  tried  to 
collect    the    results    of   experience    gained    by    successful 


2  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

teachers  down  to  this  day,  in  so  far  as  these  are  concerned 
with  general  courses  in  this  science.  I  have  sought  to 
explain  at  some  length  the  various  methods,  materials, 
and  instruments,  which  have  been  tested  and  found  to  be 
good,  to  discuss  the  merits  and  defects  of  matters  which 
still  are  in  question,  and  to  give  warning  against  sundry 
fallacies  which,  while  fair  seeming  in  theory,  have  been 
found  useless  in  practice.  I  have  tried  also  to  set  down, 
the  clearest  that  I  can,  the  various  practical  matters  which 
the  teacher  will  find  it  useful  to  know,  not  forgetting 
the  little  time-saving  turns  and  strength-saving  devices, 
both  of  hand  and  of  mind,  which,  while  simple  enough 
when  known,  are  not  likely  at  first  to  be  thought  of.  I 
know  I  have  treated  most  subjects  more  fully  than  any 
one  teacher  will  care  for,  but  I  have  aimed  to  treat  all 
matters  as  fully  as  any  one  teacher  can  need.  In  a  word, 
I  have  tried  to  make  the  work  in  a  manner  monographic 
of  matters  connected  with  elementary  or  general  science 
courses  in  Botany.  Moreover,  and  here  is  a  matter  of 
consequence,  I  have  tested  for  myself,  in  class  room  and 
laboratory,  practically  every  matter  that  is  treated  in 
these  pages;  and  the  recommendations,  therefore,  are 
based  upon  actual  experience  under  the  administrative 
conditions  which  the  teacher  has  to  meet.  If  the  book 
has  any  merit  at  all,  it  will  be  found  to  lie  chiefly  in  this 
practical  foundation. 

It  may  seem  at  first  sight  that  the  book  has  a  title  too 


INTRODUCTION  3 

wide  for  its  contents,  for  it  centers  almost  wholly  in  the 
teaching  of  its  subject  in  a  general  course  in  high  school 
or  college.  Here,  however,  lie  our  present-day  problems.  - 
Above  this  grade,  in  advanced  college  or  university  work, 
the  methods  and  materials  are  well  organized  and  pro- 
ductive of  satisfactory  results,  while  in  the  lower  grades, 
involving  the  nature  courses  of  the  primary  schools,  the 
problems  are  of  another  kind,  being  as  much  psycho- 
logical as  scientific.  In  the  general  science  courses,  how- 
ever, those  lying  just  on  either  side  of  the  boundary  be- 
tween high  school  and  college,  is  confusion,  ferment,  and 
need  for  organization;  and  here  is  the  principal  demand 
for  discussion,  investigation,  and  agreement.  I  think, 
therefore,  that  the  book  is  not  badly  named. 

The  nature  of  my  subject  has  imposed  its  own  method 
of  treatment.  It  calls  first  for  a  systematic  discussion  of 
the  various  matters  of  theory  and  practice  involved  in 
botanical  teaching;  and  this  I  have  given  in  Part  I,  as  a 
series  of  chapters  devoted  to  the  several  topics.  Then  it 
requires  an  attempt  to  combine  the  best  theory  with  the 
conditions  and  exigencies  of  actual  laboratory  adminis- 
tration ;  and  this  I  present  in  Part  II  in  the  form  of  out- 
lines and  suggestions  for  a  course  designed  to  embody 
an  harmonic  optimum  between  the  various  conditions  in- 
volved. Finally,  I  reproduce  in  an  Appendix  two  official 
documents  of  the  first  practical  importance  to  the  botani- 
cal teacher. 


4  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

In  explanation  of  the  exact  scope  of  this  book,  there  is 
a  point  that  needs  particular  emphasis.  The  book  is  con- 
cerned with  the  teaching  of  Botany  as  a  science  in  high 
school  and  college,  and  has  nothing  to  do,  directly,  with 
the  nature-study  which  belongs  to  the  lower  schools. 
Yet,  as  we  all  know,  most  of  our  students  come  into  high 
school  and  college  with  so  scant  a  knowledge  of  the 
commonest  facts  about  plants,  and  with  so  little  idea  of 
how  to  use  their  senses  and  minds  upon  natural  objects, 
that  most  of  our  teachers  find  it  needful  to  make  their 
courses,  even  for  college  students,  more  or  less  of  the 
nature-study  type.  Concession  must,  of  course,  be  made 
to  this  condition,  to  an  extent  and  in  a  way,  however, 
which  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  individual 
teacher;  but  there  is  no  question,  I  believe,  that  we  ought 
to  treat  the  condition  as  temporary,  and  should  expect 
the  lower  schools  to  send  us  students  sufficiently  grounded 
in  common  fact  knowledge  and  in  the  use  of  the  natural 
powers  to  enable  them  to  profit  by  the  later  treatment 
of  the  subject  as  a  science,  —  that  is,  as  organized  knowl- 
edge and  disciplinary  method.  The  pressure  should  be 
kept  towards  a  science  course  for  high  school  and  college, 
and  it  is  the  development  of  such  a  course  which  is  the 
aim  of  this  book. 


PART   I 

CHAPTERS  ON  SUBJECTS  IMPORTANT  IN 
BOTANICAL   EDUCATION 


I.  ON  THE  PLACE  OF  THE  SCIENCES  IN 
EDUCATION,  AND  OF  BOTANY  AMONG 
THE   SCIENCES 

It  is  essential  to  the  success  of  the  teaching  botanist 
that  he  acquire  a  definite  and  objective  conception  as 
to  the  place  of  his  subject  in  education.  This  he  musi" 
develop  for  himself  through  observation,  reflection,  and 
discussion,  to  the  last  of  which,  however,  I  can  contribute 
something  by  recording  here  the  results  of  a  good  deal 
of  study  of  this  subject. 

What  is  the  real  aim  of  education?  This  question 
though  old  is  yet  ever  new,  nor  is  there  any  matter  of 
equal  importance  on  which  there  is  so  little  agreement. 
Its  value  in  the  abstract  is  everywhere  granted,  but  men 
differ  widely  in  their  views  as  to  the  relative  nature  and 
worth  of  information,  knowledge,  learning,  intellectual 
discipline,  culture,  and  practical  training.  Now  the  cos- 
mic basis  of  education  seems  to  me  this.  Man  is  an 
animal  with  a  weak  and  weaponless  body  inferior  to  that 
of  many  of  the  brutes,  yet  he  has  risen  to  domination  over 
them,  and  much  more  of  nature  besides,  through  the  pos- 
session of  one  supreme  weapon,  —  mind.  To  enable  him 
both  to  make  the  best  present  use  for  his  own  advantage, 

7 


8  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

and  also  to  utilize  the  highest  potentialities  for  the  bene- 
fit of  his  community,  of  his  single  great  weapon,  —  that  is 
the  fundamental  aim  of  education. 

But  although  the  aim  may  be  simple,  its  attainment  is 
hard.  For  one  thing  the  mind,  developed  in  adaptation 
to  ages  of  savage  struggle  for  physical  existence,  still  finds 
more  delight  in  the  familiar  field  of  strife  with  real  or 
imagined  foes  than  in  the  stranger  ways  involved  in  the 
quiet  pursuits  of  peace,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  so 
strangely  complex  and  unstable  that  its  cultivation  pre- 
sents one  of  the  most  difficult  of  human  tasks.  More- 
over, the  need  for  the  highest  skill  and  wisdom  in  educa- 
tion is  inadequately  appreciated  by  those  whose  duty  it  is 
to  make  provision  for  them,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
experts  differ  much  upon  some  of  the  most  vital  of  its 
problems.  Nevertheless  education,  like  humanity  itself, 
moves  surely,  though  slowly  and  clumsily,  forward ;  and 
we  are  coming  with  time  to  a  better  understanding  of  the 
fundamental  educational  verities. 

Of  all  educational  problems  the  foremost  is  this:  to 
establish  the  harmonic  balance  between  mind  training 
for  general  culture  and  the  training  of  the  mind  for  suc- 
cess in  the  practice  of  a  particular  business  or  profession. 
To  most  of  our  people,  and  especially  to  those  of  remoter 
or  poorer  communities,  practical  training  seems  the  only 
worthy  aim  of  education ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  make  them 
comprehend   the   reason  of  training   for  culture,   whose 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  9 

value  is  understood  as  a  rule  only  by  those  who  have 
experienced  it.  Yet  training  for  culture  is  at  least  as 
important  a  part  of  education  as  training  for  a  profession, 
since  in  a  general  way  it  is  true  that  while  the  latter  pro- 
motes the  interests  of  the  individual,  the  former  tends  to 
make  him  a  better  companion,  neighbor,  and  citizen, 
which  is  no  small  matter  when  men  must  dwell  together 
as  members  one  of  another.  Cultural  training  is  some- 
times justified  by  the  statement  that  the  mind  becomes 
a  more  efficient  tool  for  any  practical  service  if  it  has  first 
been  brought  into  a  condition  of  general  sharpness  and 
polish.  This  is  true,  but  it  is  not  the  highest  justifica- 
tion of  culture.  That  is  found  rather  in  the  better- sense 
of  values,  the  truer  perspective,  the  deeper  knowledge  of 
man  in  relation  to  other  things,  which  cultural  training 
gives.  Certain  great  things  which  have  profoundly  in- 
fluenced human  thought  and  action  have  been  and  are 
now  in  the  world ;  that  is  reason  enough  why  an  educated 
man  should  have  some  personal  knowledge  of  them. 
To  a  considerable  and  a  steadily  increasing  degree,  sub- 
jects useful  professionally  can  be  made  of  value  for  cul- 
ture as  well,  so  that  vocational  and  cultural  education 
may  to  a  considerable  extent  be  coincident.  Neverthe- 
less there  must  always  remain,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  a  large  number  of  subjects  invaluable  to  culture 
which  can  never  perform  any  practical  service.  Educa- 
tional opinion  is  now  well-nigh  unanimous  in  the  belief 


lO  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST      ' 

that  the  best  education  is  the  one  in  which  a  cultural 
education,  represented  among  us  by  the  usual  high  school 
and  college  course,  precedes  the  professional  training  given 
by  the  special  schools.  It  is  true,  all  cannot  achieve  such 
an  education,  but  it  is  the  ideal  for  which  all  should  strive. 
Any  system  of  education  for  culture  has  to  reckon 
with  the  great  number  of  different  phases  or  departments 
of  human  knowledge.  But  these  have  long  been  too 
many  and  vast  for  any  one  mind  to  encompass,  even  as 
to  their  elements,  while  all  have  become  so  detailed  that 
it  is  task  enough  to  attain  a  moderate  proficiency  in  one. 
This  marvelous  widening  and  deepening  of  knowledge 
are  working  a  complete  transformation  in  our  ideal  of 
the  cultured  man.  Time  was  when  all  educated  men 
knew  the  same  things,  discussed  the  same  questions, 
and  read  the  same  books.  Now  men  of  equal  culture 
know  very  different  things,  debate  quite  unlike  problems, 
and  hear  nothing  of  one  another's  works;  and  their  com- 
mon ground  of  meeting  lies  no  longer  in  scholarly  knowl- 
edge, but  in  the  general  affairs  of  humanity.  We  are 
coming  to  believe,  indeed,  that  culture  consists  less  in 
extensive  knowledge  than  in  intelligent  sympathy;  not 
so  much  in  stores  of  particular  facts  as  in  ability  to 
transmute  any  suitable  facts  into  knowledge;  not  only 
in  well-grounded  conviction,  but  in  toleration;  not  alone  in 
absorption  of  wisdom,  but  as  well  in  its  radiation;  in 
appreciation  of  public  and  humanitarian  service;    in  pa- 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  n 

triotism  that  is  above  party  and  profit;  in  a  word,  in  the 
development  of  the  forces  and  refinements  of  character. 
For  purposes  of  practical  educational  administration  the 
matter  is  sometimes  expressed  in  the  saying,  —  know 
something  of  everything  and  everything  of  something. 
Yet  this  is  a  bit  too  sweeping,  and  a  safer  guide  is  this,  — 
know  much  of  something,  and  something  of  many  things. 
This,  I  believe,  expresses  the  practical  form  of  the  aim  of 
cultural  education. 

This  view  of  culture  is  admitted  more  widely  in  theory 
than  it  is  embodied  in  practice.  For  it  implies  that  all 
the  great  and  approved  divisions  of  human  knowledge 
should  rank  as  equals,  whereas  in  fact  they  do  not,  even 
in  the  minds  of  many  highly  educated  men,  who  claim 
that  some  divisions  of  knowledge  are  inherently  more 
cultural  than  others.  In  a  general  way  the  leading  sub- 
jects of  educational  importance  group  themselves  into  two 
classes,  one  including  those  subjects,  viz.  hterature,  art, 
music,  languages,  and  history,  which  appeal  chiefly  to 
the  feelings  and  are  called  ''the  humanities,"  and  the 
other  including  those  subjects,  viz.  mathematics,  and 
the  natural  sciences  (together  with  philosophy),  which 
appeal  chiefly  to  the  reason  and  are  called,  somewhat 
loosely,  "the  sciences."  Not  only  do  many  people  claim, 
but  our  educational  practice  assumes,  that  the  humani- 
ties are  innately  more  cultural  than  the  sciences,  which 
assumption  is  made  manifest  in  many  practical  ways,  — ■ 


12  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


in  college  entrance  requirements,  where  the  humanities 
are  in  overwhelming  preponderance ;  in  the  construction 
of  college  curricula,  where  an  amount  of  attention  to  the 
humanities  is  encouraged  as  "desirable  concentration," 
which  if  offered  to  the  sciences  is  vetoed  as  "narrowing 
specialization";  in  the  prevalent  assumption  that  ex- 
perts in  the  sciences  are  uncultured  boors  unless  they 
know  much  of  the  humanities,  while  specialists  in  the 
humanities  lose  no  cultural  caste  if  wholly  ignorant  of 
the  sciences;  and  in  the  high  respect  accorded  the  pur- 
suit of  the  humanities  as  avocations  or  recreations  in 
comparison  with  the  somewhat  amused  toleration  gener- 
ally extended  to  a  similar  pursuit  of  the  sciences.  Much 
of  this  difference  of  attitude  towards  the  two  classes  of 
subjects  is  due  simply  to  the  inertia  of  the  older  views 
which  were  prevalent  in  pre-scientific  days,  and  will 
spend  itself  and  vanish  with  time.  A  part  of  it  is  just, 
being  based  on  the  still  inferior  teaching  of  the  sciences, 
and  it  will  disappear  as  that  is  improved,  —  a  subject  on 
which  some  further  comments  will  be  found  a  few  pages 
later.  But,  aside  from  these  adventitious  circumstances, 
is  it  true  that  the  sciences  are  inherently  less  cultural 
than  the  humanities?  This  must  of  necessity  be  matter 
of  opinion  rather  than  of  proof,  and  the  reader  must  draw 
his  own  conclusions  from  such  data  as  he  can  gather,  — • 
in  which,  however,  let  him  include  the  material  of  the 
following  paragraphs. 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  13 

The  innate  capacity  of  the  sciences  to  rank  as  equals 
of  the  humanities  as  cultural  subjects  in  education  has 
been  advocated  by  many  distinguished  leaders,  of  whom 
the  greatest  was  Huxley,  and  in  this  country  President 
Eliot.  In  their  works,  notably  the  Science  and  Educa- 
tion of  the  former  and  Educational  Reform  of  the  latter, 
the  reader  will  find  full  discussions,  alike  illuminating 
and  attractive,  of  this  important  matter.  The  cultural 
value  of  any  subject  depends  chiefly  upon  its  power  to 
do  three  things,  —  to  train  the  intellect,  to  stimulate  the 
imagination,  and  to  impart  useful  knowledge.  As  to 
training  of  the  intellect,  consider  this  greatest  of  all  defini- 
tions of  Science:    that  of  Huxley. 

Science  is,  I  believe,  nothing  but  trained  and  organized 
common  sense,  differing  from  the  latter  only  as  a  veteran 
may  differ  from  a  raw  recruit:  and  its  methods  differ  from 
those  of  common  sense  only  so  far  as  the  guardsman's  cut  and 
thrust  differ  from  the  manner  in  which  a  savage  wields  his 
club.  The  primary  power  is  the  same  in  each  case,  and  per- 
haps the  untutored  savage  has  the  more  brawny  arm  of  the 
two.  The  real  advantage  Hes  in  the  point  and  polish  of  the 
swordsman's  weapon;  in  the  trained  eye  quick  to  spy  out 
the  weakness  of  the  adversary;  in  the  ready  hand  prompt 
to  follow  it  on  the  instant.  But,  after  all,  the  sword  exercise 
is  only  the  hewing  and  poking  of  the  clubman  developed  and 
perfected. 

So,  the  vast  results  obtained  by  Science  are  won  by  no 
mystical  faculties,  by  no  mental  processes,  other  than  those 
which  are  practiced  by  every  one  of  us,  in  the  humblest  and 


14  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

meanest  affairs  of  life.     (Science  and  Education,  edition  of 
1894,  p.  45.) 

As  to  the  power  of  Science  to  stimulate  the  imagination, 
these  are  the  words  of  President  Eliot  :  — 

The  imagination  is  the  greatest  of  human  powers,  no  matter 
in  what  field  it  works  —  in  art  or  Hterature,  in  mechanical 
invention,  in  science,  government,  commerce  or  reUgion,  and 
the  training  of  the  imagination  is,  therefore,  far  the  most 
important  part  of  education.  .  .  . 

Contrast  this  kind  of  constructive  imagination  with  the 
kind  which  conceived  the  great  wells  sunk  in  the  solid  rock 
below  Niagara  that  contain  the  turbines  that  drive  the 
dynamos,  that  generate  the  electric  force  that  turns  thou- 
sands of  wheels  and  lights  thousands  of  lamps  over  hundreds 
of  square  miles  of  adjoining  territory  ;  or  with  the  kind  which 
conceives  the  sending  of  human  thoughts  across  three  thou- 
sand miles  of  stormy  sea  instantaneously  on  nothing  more 
substantial  than  ethereal  waves.  There  is  going  to  be  room 
in  the  hearts  of  twentieth  century  men  for  a  high  admira- 
tion of  these  kinds  of  imagination  as  well  as  for  that  of  the 
poet,  artist,  or  dramatist. 

It  is  one  lesson  of  the  nineteenth  century,  then,  that  in 
every  field  of  human  knowledge  the  constructive  imagination 
finds  play  —  in  literature,  in  history,  in  theology,  in  anthro- 
pology, and  in  the  whole  field  of  physical  and  biological 
research.  (Address  on  The  New  Definition  of  the  Cultivated 
Man,  in  Science,  18,  1903,  p.  78.) 

As  to  knowledge,  each  must  judge  for  himself  whether 
it  is  not  as  conducive  to  gentle  conduct,  to  good  citizen- 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  15 

ship,  and  to  sympathy  with  all  grades  of  humanity,  to 
know  something  of  the  forces  with  which  man  to-day  is 
subduing  nature,  of  the  processes  going  on  in  our  own 
bodies,  of  the  basis  of  the  germ  nature  of  disease,  of  what 
moves  an  electric  car,  of  the  meaning  of  the  procession  of 
the  seasons  with  their  manifold  phenomena,  as  to  know 
the  arts  and  literatures,  ancient  or  modem,  fine  though 
these  things  be. 

There  is,  however,  one  respect  in  which  the  sciences 
are  now,  and  must  ever  remain,  of  less  cultural  impor- 
tance than  the  humanities.  Man  as  a  whole  is  much 
more  a  feeling  than  a  thinking  being;  and  therefore  the 
great  majority  of  people  can  best  be  influenced,  or  edu- 
cated, through  studies  which  appeal  to  their  feelings,  — 
that  is  to  say,  through  the  humanities.  Nevertheless 
there  are  some,  and  they  a  considerable  proportion,  who 
can  best  be  reached  through  the  reason,  and  for  them 
the  sciences  have  the  higher  cultural  value.  Now  a  mi- 
nority has  rights,  and  although  the  humanities  must 
always  hold  quantitatively  a  greater  place  in  education 
than  the  sciences,  these  are  entitled  to  a  qualitative  equality 
of  educational  rank  and  dignity,  expressed  in  equally 
efficient  and  continuous  instruction,  and  in  the  same 
status  of  requirement  or  election,  throughout  the  educa- 
tional system  from  kindergarten  to  college.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  sciences  do  not  now  possess  this  rightful  equal- 
ity, and  it  is  our  duty  to  see  that  they  shall,  —  first,  by 


l6  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

deserving  it  through  improvements  in  our  teaching,  and 
second,  by  insisting  thereon  upon  all  suitable  occasions. 

For  the  attainment  by  the  sciences  of  equal  educa- 
tional rank  with  the  humanities,  continuity  of  good 
instruction  throughout  the  grades  is  indispensable.  Be- 
cause of  their  many  generations  of  experience  the  hu- 
manities have  been  able  to  develop,  immensely  to  their 
profit,  efficient  and  measurably  standardized  instruction, 
adaptive  both  as  to  matter  and  methods,  for  all  grades 
from  the  lowest  schools  to  the  college.  But,  as  everybody 
knows,  while  instruction  in  the  sciences  is  fairly  good  in 
the  higher  grades,  we  have  not  as  yet  any  consistent  or 
continuous  system  of  instruction  in  nature  knowledge  in 
the  lower  schools,  and  our  scientific  education  suffers 
greatly  from  this  deficiency.  In  the  first  place,  poor  or 
discontinuous  instruction  in  nature-study  deprives  the 
scientifically-minded  student  of  the  opportunity  to  find 
early  his  chief  interest.  Again,  it  gives  to  most  students 
a  prejudice  against  subjects  in  which  their  experience  has 
been  so  limited,  or,  often,  so  unfortunate.  And,  finally, 
it  deprives  students,  at  a  time  when  their  minds  are  in 
the  most  formative  and  receptive  state,  of  training  in  the 
natural  inductive  methods  of  acquiring  knowledge,  while 
immersing  them  instead  in  excessive  text-book  and  de- 
ductive work,  which  tends  always  to  make  them  distrust- 
ful of  their  own  powers,  and  leads  them  to  regard  as  the 
only  real  sources  of  knowledge  the  thoughts  of  others 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  17 

formally  presented  in  printed  books.  In  consequence 
most  students  come  into  high  school  and  college  not  only 
without  a  good  foundation  in  natural  fact  knowledge,  but 
even  with  a  prejudice  against  all  matters  scientific;  and 
the  revival  in  them  of  that  spirit  of  inductive  inquiry 
which  they  originally  possessed,  but  so  often  have  lost 
through  disuse  and  the  pressure  of  other  activities,  be- 
comes the  hardest  task  of  the  teacher.  The  teaching 
botanist  should,  therefore,  from  the  standpoint  of  his  own 
interests  if  no  other,  give  every  possible  aid  and  comfort 
to  his  nature-study  colleagues  in  their  efforts  to  develop 
continuous  and  efhcient  instruction  in  nature  knowledge  in 
the  primary  schools. 

The  conception  of  cultural  education  as  requiring  a 
good  training  in  some  one  of  the  worthy  departments 
of  knowledge,  involves  this  question:  What  shall  deter- 
mine for  each  student  that  main  department  of  study  ?  As 
to  this  all  opinion  is  in  agreement;  he  should  be  allowed 
to  choose  that  which  is  most  congenial,  and  in  which,  on 
that  account,  he  will  attain  the  highest  proficiency.  Ex- 
perience has  taught  that  the  mind  like  the  body  derives 
more  good  from  an  exercise  in  which  it  can  take  an  interest 
than  from  one  in  which  it  does  not.  This  is  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  elective  system,  and  it  is,  when 
suitably  safeguarded,  of  very  wide  educational  application. 
Indeed,  this  general  idea  of  making  the  individual's  first 
interest  the  center  of  his  education  is  equally  applicable  to 


l8  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

all  grades  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university,  although, 
naturally,  with  differences  in  the  mode  of  its  practical  ap- 
plication according  to  the  grade.  In  the  lower  grades  it 
will  consist  simply  in  the  utilization  by  the  skilled  teacher 
of  a  student's  first  interest  as  a  means  of  arousing  and 
stimulating  him  to  better  effort;  but  in  the  upper  grades 
the  student  should  be  encouraged  to  some  definite  concen- 
tration upon  his  chief  interest,  with  a  permission  of  some 
limited  election  in  the  high  school,  a  more  liberal  allowance 
in  college,  and  as  much  as  he  pleases  in  the  university. 

Our  idea  of  culture  involves,  however,  not  alone  the 
need  for  a  thorough  knowledge  of  something,  but  likewise 
some  knowledge  of  many  things;  and  therefore  the  elec- 
tive system  ought  logically  to  involve,  along  with  the 
choice  of  a  main  subject,  the  obligation  to  learn  the  ele- 
ments of  a  number  of  others.  Thus  only,  indeed,  can  be 
met  a  frequent  and  just  objection  to  the  elective  system  in 
its  extreme  form,  viz.  that  in  permitting  the  student  to 
choose  and  concentrate  solely  upon  that  which  he  likes,  he 
loses  the  power,  acquired  only  through  effort,  to  turn  his 
mind  at  need  to  uncongenial  tasks.  There  is  really  noth- 
ing in  the  principle  of  election  to  weaken  the  training 
power  of  education,  as  the  example  of  the  technical  and 
professional  schools,  which  illustrate  election  on  a  large 
scale,  abundantly  proves;  but  certainly  that  result  does 
often  follow  in  actual  practice.  A  rigid  drill  in  some  other 
subjects,  whether  he  likes  them  or  not,  is,  in  my  opinion,  as 


PLACE    OF   BOTANY   IN    EDUCATION  19 

essential  a  part  of  any  student's  education  as  is  the  most 
devoted  pursuit  of  things  that  are  congenial.  But  the 
point  now  of  concern  is  this,  that  such  drill  will  be  more 
effective  if  linked  with  a  voluntary  interest  in  a  congenial 
main  subject.  This  brings  us,  in  turn,  to  the  matter  of  the 
relation  which  ought  to  exist  between  a  student's  elected 
main  subject  and  those  he  is  required  to  take.  The  one 
ought  not  to  rise  abruptly  anywhere  out  of  a  dead  level  of 
the  others,  as  a  factory  chimney  towers  up  from  a  flat  roof, 
but  rather  it  should  form  the  central  height  of  a  mass 
sloping  gradually  away  therefrom,  as  a  mountain  peak 
runs  curving  symmetrically  down  to  the  plain.  That 
is,  the  minor  subjects  should  be  grouped  about  the  prin- 
cipal one  in  the  order  of  their  bearing  upon  it,  some 
receiving  more  attention  and  some  less.  In  the  higher 
grades,  in  high  school  and  especially  in  college,  this  prin- 
ciple finds  its  logical  expression  in  a  group  system,  wherein 
the  minor  subjects  are  linked  to  the  main  subject  in  that 
kind  and  degree  shown  by  educational  experience  to  be 
advantageous.  The  student  may  choose  his  group,  but 
having  chosen  it,  finds  his  studies  arranged  upon  a  logical 
plan.  A  system  of  perfectly  free  election  can  be  satis- 
factory only  where  much  good  influence  is  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  choices  of  the  better  students,  and  where  indiffer- 
ence prevails  as  to  the  effects  upon  the  poor  ones.  The 
group  system  preserves  the  essential  advantages  of  the 
elective  system  without  its  serious  defects;  and  its  universal 


20  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

use  in  the  technical  and  professional  schools  is,  I  believe, 
a  chief  reason  for  their  much  greater  efficiency  in  their 
fields  as  compared  with  that  of  the  colleges  in  theirs. 

This  mention  of  the  superior  efficiency  of  the  technical 
schools  over  the  colleges  suggests  another  reason  for  the 
difference  between  them,  viz.  the  former  have  never  lost 
sight  of  the  educational  value  of  effort  and  discipline, 
while  the  latter  too  largely  ignore  them.  In  our  own  gener- 
ation we  have  witnessed  the  transformation  of  the  greater 
American  colleges  from  institutions  primarily  educational 
into  institutions  partly  educational  and  partly  social.  This 
change  has  been  linked,  naturally  enough,  with  an  insidious 
luxurizing  of  education,  in  which  process  the  features  of  the 
system  disagreeable  to  young  people  have  been  emascu- 
lated, the  guidance  of  their  studies  has  been  intrusted 
largely  to  their  own  whims,  and  the  responsibility  for  their 
learning  has  been  shifted  mostly  from  them  over  upon 
their  teachers.  We  are  now  beginning  to  reap  the  natu- 
ral fruits  of  this  short-sighted  policy.  Our  students  as  a 
whole  have  many  hazy  impressions  but  little  exact  knowl- 
edge, are  habitually  inaccurate  in  all  things  even  to  the 
three  r's,  and  regard  their  intellectual  duties  as  subordi- 
nate to  their  personal  inclinations.^     There  can  be  no  im- 

'  On  these  matters  the  recent  addresses  and  articles  of  many  of  the 
younger  college  presidents  are  illuminating.  An  important  document 
upon  the  same  matters  as  concerns  the  schools,  is  the  recent  Declaration 
of  Principles  of  the  National  Education  Association,  published  in 
Science  28,  1908,  2i33- 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  21 

provement  in  these  matters  until  effort  and  discipline  are 
restored  to  their  proper  educational  status.  By  effort  I 
do  not  mean  a  nervous  straining  imposed  from  without 
by  fear  of  the  exercise  of  the  teacher's  constituted  powers, 
but  a  calm  determination,  originating  within  under  the 
stimulus  of  the  influence  and  example  of  a  teacher 
who  knows  how  to  inculcate  a  spirit  of  Spartan  pleasure 
in  devotion  to  duty  with  ambition  for  intellectual  en- 
deavor. It  cannot  be  too  often  or  too  strongly  repeated 
that  in  the  development  of  the  mind,  as  of  the  body,  it  is 
through  effort  that  strength  is  gained  and  through  responsi- 
bility that  character  is  formed.  Nor  should  we  lose  sight 
of  the  value  of  drill,  good  old-fashioned  drill  in  the  ele- 
ments of  knowledge,  which  provides  the  only  means  for 
doing  something  with  poor  students,  is  a  good  method  for 
the  mediocre  ones,  and  does  no  harm  to  the  best.  Further- 
more, we  need  to  restore  the  understanding  that  the  respon- 
sibility for  learning  rests  with  the  student,  not  with  the 
teacher.  In  fact  no  teacher  can  educate  any  student;  all 
that  he  can  do  is  to  show  the  student  how  he  can  educate 
himself,  and  perhaps  supply  him  with  some  incentive  to  do 
it.  Another  phase  of  the  luxurizing  of  education  is  found  in 
an  exaggeration  of  the  value  of  pleasingly-presented  infor- 
mation, which  we  can  pour  out  in  floods  without  serious 
disturbance  to  our  students,  as  compared  with  training, 
which  must  be  self-acquired  with  effort.  Yet  training  is 
far  more  important  than  information  in  education,  and 


22  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

for  many  reasons,  —  amongst  others  for  this,  that  the 
acquisition  of  information  follows  easily  and  naturally 
upon  training,  while  the  reverse  is  not  true.  The 
trained  mind  assimilates  information  and  transmutes  it 
into  knowledge,  where  the  untrained  mind  can  do  little 
more  than  store  it  en  masse.  Every  teacher  should  keep 
always  in  mind  the  great  saying  of  Huxley,  that  "  the  great 
end  of  life  is  not  knowledge  but  action";  or,  if  he  prefer, 
he  can  put  the  same  thought  in  the  words  of  President 
Eliot,  "  train  for  power."  In  training  for  power,  or  action, 
no  subjects  are  better  prepared  to  render  service  than  the 
sciences ;  and  towards  the  development  of  a  more  Spartan 
and  less  luxurious  spirit  in  education  the  teaching  botanist 
should  lend  all  of  his  influence. 

Our  modern  conception  of  culture  involves  the  idea  of 
the  equality  of  all  the  great  leading  departments  of  knowl- 
edge. Most  universities  and  the  greater  colleges  attempt 
to  provide  instruction  in  all  departments  which  are  of  a 
character  and  grade  suitable  to  their  students;  but  some 
such  institutions,  and  most  high  schools,  cannot  afford  to 
do  this,  and  some  principle  must  be  followed  in  determin- 
ing which  ones  should  be  selected.  The  best  principle, 
however,  seems  to  be  obvious.  Selection  should  be 
so  made  as  to  give  equal  representation  to  each  of  those 
natural  groups  of  subjects  which  are  known  to  require 
distinct  methods  of  thought,  or  to  appeal  to  different 
types  of  mind.    That  subjects  fall  into  such   groups  is 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  23 

well  known.  Thus,  aside  from  the  primary  division  into 
humanities  and  sciences,  there  are  minor  groups  centering 
about  languages  and  literatures,  involving  the  faculties 
of  expression:  about  mathematics,  involving  the  faculties 
concerned  with  number  and  spacial  relations:  about 
history  and  geography,  involving  interrelations  of  human- 
ity: about  art  and  music,  appealing  to  the  assthetic 
faculties:  about  philosophy,  involving  the  loftiest  efforts 
of  the  human  reason:  about  the  sciences,  exercising  the 
inductive  faculties  and  seeking  to  transfer  a  replica  of 
nature  into  the  mind  of  man.  These  minor  groups  are 
likewise  subdivided  according  to  lesser  differences  between 
them.  Now  it  should  be  the  aim  of  every  educational 
institution,  of  whatever  sort,  to  provide  equally  competent 
instruction  in  something,  appropriate  in  grade  to  the  age 
of  its  students,  from  each  one  of  these  great  leading 
groups,  without  cultivating  some  to  the  neglect  of  others; 
while  additional  subjects  should  be  introduced  with 
care  to  secure  a  symmetrical  representation  from  the 
different  groups  and  leading  sub-groups.  Thus  only  can 
all  students  be  assured  their  just  right  to  an  equal  oppor- 
tunity for  finding  and  following  their  main  interest,  and 
thus  only  can  they  all  be  given  that  general  knowledge  of 
many  things  involved  in  our  idea  of  culture,  —  for  these  many 
things,  I  take  it,  should  include  something  from  each  of 
the  great  divisions  of  knowledge.  Fortunately  our  modern 
educational  trend  is  this  way,  as  is  exemplified  in  our  present 


24  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

college  entrance  requirements,  which  not  only  permit  but 
encourage  such  a  plan. 

A  few  pages  earlier  I  said  that  the  sciences  are  not  so 
well  taught,  upon  the  whole,  as  the  humanities  and  mathe- 
matics, and  we  can  hardly  expect  for  the  sciences  an  educa- 
tional equality  with  the  older  subjects  until  this  deficiency 
is  made  good.  Some  of  the  causes  of  the  deficiency  are 
innate  in  the  case  and  beyond  our  own  control.  Thus,  the 
luxuriousness  of  modern  education,  with  its  leaning  to- 
wards avoidance  of  effort,  its  permission  of  inaccuracy, 
and  its  tendency  to  substitute  information  for  training, 
does  not  offer  a  favorable  environment  for  the  growth  of 
subjects  which,  like  the  sciences,  are  nothing  if  not  exacting, 
accurate,  and  individualistic.  Correlated  with  this  is  the 
fact  that  the  sciences,  partly  because  appealing  to  the 
rarer  reason  rather  than  the  commoner  emotions,  partly 
because  of  the  defective  early  training  of  most  students, 
and  partly  because  of  the  strenuousness  of  the  laboratory 
type  of  study,  with  its  demand  for  much  mechanical  manip- 
ulation, its  fixed  hours  and  methods  of  work,  and  its  abso- 
lute requirement  of  independent  observation,  are  distasteful 
to  young  people,  who  prefer  to  absorb  their  knowledge,  as 
they  have  been  mostly  trained  to  do,  in  physical  ease, 
by  methods  which  can  be  lightened  by  the  wits,  and  from 
printed  books  upon  which  they  can  lean  for  authority. 
For  these  things  the  science  teacher  is  not  responsible, 
and  cannot  himself  change.     It  is  fortunate,  therefore,  that 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  25 

they  are  only  of  minor  account  in  comparison  with  the 
main  causes  of  our  defective  teaching,  which  are  within 
our  control  and  removable.     Thus,  the  sciences,  chiefly  on 
account  of  their  youth  as  laboratory-taught  subjects,  have 
not  yet  had  time  to  become  organized  and  standardized 
for    their    most    effectual    educational    use.     To  a  con- 
siderable extent  we  know  what  subjects  are  most  worth 
teaching  and  how  best  to  present  them;  but  there  remains 
a  very  broad  margin  of  matters  on  which  opinions  and 
usage  are  divided,  while  hosts  of  topics  are  in  need  of 
careful  sifting  and  testing.      But  effort,  discussion,  and 
time  will  bring  order  in   all    these  directions.       Again, 
teachers  of  the  sciences  are  not  as  a  rule  as  well  trained  for 
their  work  as  are  the  teachers  of  the  humanities  for  theirs, 
and  sometimes  they  are  not  trained  at  all ;  for  the  status  of 
the  sciences  is  still  such  in  some  schools  that  their  teaching 
is  handed  over  to  that  member  of  the  staff  who  is  least  over- 
worked in  other  ways,  and  who  is  then  expected  to  "work 
it  up  "  ahead  of  the  class.     But  conditions  in  this  respect, 
too,    are    improving,    and   the    supply   of  well-prepared 
teachers  is  now  becoming  sufficient  to  deprive  educational 
boards  of    the    excuse    that    they  cannot   be    obtained. 
More  important,  however,  is  the  fact  that  our  science  teach- 
ing is  suffering  from  the  wide  prevalence  of  a  serious  fallacy, 
viz.  the  belief  imposed  upon  all  of  their  students  by  the 
universities,  that  in  order  to  be  a  good  scientific  teacher  one 
must  at  the  same  time  be  an  active  scientific  investigator. 


26  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

This  matter  I  shall  consider  again  in  the  third  chapter; 
I  only  mention  it  here  as  one  of  the  removable  causes  of 
defective  teaching.  Finally,  in  correlation  with  this  fal- 
lacy, our  teaching  suffers  from  the  fact  that  our  teachers 
tend  to  rely  overmuch  on  the  merits  of  their  subject  for 
success,  and  neglect  or  ignore  the  use  of  those  personal  and 
diplomatic  qualities,  and  those  legitimate  devices  for  arous- 
ing attention  and  interest,  which  are  essential  to  success 
in  dealing  with  impressionable  and  self-centered  youth. 
This  matter  also  I  shall  consider  further  in  the  third 
chapter,  but  I  cite  it  here  as  perhaps  the  most  vital  of  the 
defects  of  our  science  teaching.  To  the  correction  of 
these  various  defects  the  science  teacher  should  bend  all  of 
his  efforts,  since  upon  their  correction  depends  the  eleva- 
tion of  his  subject  to  its  rightful  educational  dignity. 

Thus  much  for  the  place  of  the  sciences  in  education; 
we  turn  now  to  the  educational  place  of  Botany  among  the 
sciences.  In  a  broad  way  the  educational  value  of  all 
the  sciences  is  much  the  same,  or  at  least,  they  differ  less 
from  one  another  than  all  do  from  other  subjects.  Those 
which  are  recognized  in  general  teaching  are  Chemistry, 
Physics,  Botany,  Zoology  (with  Human  Physiology),  and 
Physical  Geography  (or  Physiography),  all  of  which  have 
good  standing  as  high  school  subjects,  Astronomy  and 
Geology  which  are  rarely  found  in  high  schools  and  be- 
long distinctly  in  college,  and  the  newer  sciences  of  Ex- 
perimental Psychology  and  Anthropology,  which  belong 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  27 

exclusively  in  college.  These  sciences  segregate  some< 
what  according  to  the  method  of  their  study.  Thus 
Botany  and  Zoology  are  chiefly  observational  in  method, 
and  are  extremely  alike  in  most  of  their  features ;  Chemis- 
try and  Physics,  though  resembling  one  another  less  in  their 
subject-mc.tter,  are  alike  in  being  primarily  experimental 
in  method;  while  Physical  Geography  is  characterized  by 
the  prominence  o2  visualization  and  generalization.  This 
natural  grouping  of  these  sciences  sugg2sts  the  practical 
advantage  that  schools  whicn  cannot  afford  to  provide 
them  all  had  better  provide  one  from  each  group  rather 
than  two  in  the  same  group;  and  all  considerations  of 
educational  expediency  indorse  this  plan.  As  tO  expense 
of  equipment,  Chemistry  and  Physics  are  much  alike  and 
both  are  more  expensive  than  the  others;  Botany  and 
Zoology  are  about  alike  and  less  expensive  than  the  t\vo 
former,  but  more  expensive  than  Physical  Geography. 

The  group  of  recognized  high  school  sciences  thus  in- 
cludes five,  and  the  question  naturally  arises  how  these  are 
to  be  adjusted  in  the  curriculum  of  the  four  years  of  the 
course.  The  difficulty  is  further  increased  by  the  fact 
that  the  first  year  in  high  school  is  generally  considered 
too  early  for  the  serious  study  of  any  subject  as  a  science. 
In  practice  the  greatest  diversity  prevails,^  and  so  much 

^  A  careful  statistical  study  of  this  subject  by  G.  W.  Hunter  is  con- 
tained in  School  Science  and  Mathematics,  10,  1910,  i.  A  new  plan  now 
in  trial  at  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  places  in  the  first  year  of  the  high 
school  an  experimental  course  upon  topics  from  the  various  sciences. 


28  THE   TEACHIXG   BOTANIST 

must  depend  upon  local  conditions  that  it  is  difficult  to 
make  any  general  recommendations.  In  some  places  the 
Botany  and  Zoology  are  combined  into  a  single  year  of 
Biology,  with  no  additional  instruction  in  those  subjects. 
This  method  has  the  serious  demerit  of  yielding  a  very 
defective  knowledge  content  for  both  sciences.  In  any 
subject  there  is  a  point  up  to  which,  while  the  training  is 
all  valuable,  the  knowledge  acquired  is  relatively  small;  and 
it  is,  I  believe,  the  common  experience  that  knowledge  in 
these  sciences  follows  in  proportionally  greater  amount  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  year.  I  think,  therefore,  that  a  full 
year  of  either  Botany  or  Zoology  is  of  much  more  value  than 
the  combination  half  year  of  each.  In  some  cases  where 
the  course  in  Biology  is  used,  provision  is  made  for  a  full 
elective  year  later  in  either  Botany  or  Zoology,  and  such  a 
plan  fully  meets  this  objection. 

As  to  the  two  sister  sciences  of  Botany  and  Zoology, 
they  are  so  very  similar  in  every  educational  feature  that 
a  choice  between  them  must  be  based  chiefly  upon  the  pre- 
dilections of  the  teacher,  some  conditions  of  local  expedi- 
ency, or  other  extrinsic  cause.  So  far  as  training  is  con- 
cerned it  matters  not  in  the  least  whether  one  studies  the 
sedentary  and  food-making  plants  or  the  locomotive  and 
food-destroying  animals,  for  these  differences  are  insignifi- 
cant as  compared  with  the  resemblances  between  them 
as  living  organisms.  Zoology  has  some  advantages;  the 
structure  of  animals  is  far  more  sharply  differentiated  than 


PLACE   OF   BOTANY   IN   EDUCATION  29 

that  of  plants,  and  throws  great  light  upon  the  structure  of 
man,  hence  affording  the  best  basis  for  the  understanding 
of  many  of  the  facts  of  human  physiology,  hygiene,  etc. 
On  the  other  hand,  experimental  physiology  is  far  more 
practicable  in  plants,  many  of  whose  most  important  pro- 
cesses are  physiologically  identical  with  those  of  animals, 
while  plants  are  easier  than  animals  to  obtain  and  keep. 
Botany,  perhaps,  comes  somewhat  closer  to  our  daily  in- 
terests than  Zoology,  and  aesthetically  it  certainly  far  ex- 
ceeds the  latter/  Most  people  undoubtedly  consider 
Botany  a  much  easier  subject  than  Zoology,  but  that  is 
due  entirely  to  the  fact  that  hitherto  only  its  more  super- 
ficial aspects  have  usually  been  selected  for  study,  though 
this  is  changing  so  rapidly  that  already  the  two  sciences 
rank  as  equals  in  this  feature. 

Such  are  the  views  to  ^^■hich  one  student  at  least  has  been 
led  as  to  the  place  of  our  science  in  the  general  system  of 
education.  Whether  the  reader  agrees  or  not  is  of  no 
great  moment,  but  it  is  indispensable  that  he  have  knowl- 
edge and  opinions  of  his  own  on  these  matters  of  funda- 
mental concern. 

'  If  the  reader  desires  an  analysis  of  the  advantages  and  pleasures  of 
botanical  study,  he  can  find  a  very  full  and  clear  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject, with  many  citations  of  the  literature,  by  F.  E.  Lloyd  in  Lloyd  and 
BiGELOw's  book,  The  Teaching  of  Biology  in  the  Secondary  School.  This 
book,  in  fact,  is  particularly  strong  in  its  citation  of  the  literature  of  other 
phases  of  botanical  education  as  well. 


30  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

II.    ON   THE    QUESTION:    WHAT    BOTANY   IS 
OF   MOST   EDUCATIONAL   WORTH? 

The  remarkable  expansion  of  botanical  science  in  recent 
years  has  immensely  enriched  our  knowledge  of  plants  in 
every  direction,  while  at  the  same  time  it  has  caused  a  seg- 
regation of  the  science  into  rather  sharply-marked  divi- 
sions. So  far  as  investigation  for  the  attainment  of  new 
knowledge  is  concerned,  no  one  of  these  divisions  is  any 
more  important  than  another,  for  all  are  of  the  utmost 
value  and  boundless  in  every  direction.  But  in  teaching, 
in  general  courses,  selection  is  imperativ'e,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary to  determine  what  parts  of  the  science  will  yield  rich- 
est returns  for  the  time  and  effort  expended.  The  practical 
phases  of  the  subject  are  treated  elsewhere  in  this  book ;  I 
shall  try  here  to  examine  what  data  there  may  be  for  a 
judgment  upon  the  relative  educational  value,  from  our 
present  point  of  view,  of  the  different  divisions  or  phases 
of  botanical  study. 

We  may  note  at  the  outset  that  any  such  inquiry  must 
involve  the  idea  of  the  formulation  of  some  kind  of  optimum 
course  such  as  will  represent  the  harmonic  resultant  be- 
tween the  various  factors  involved.  In  this  case  the  factors 
are  mainly  these :  the  present  state  of  knowledge  of  the 
science,  our  present  command  of  the  technique  of  labora- 
tory administration,  and  the  psychological  make-up  of  the 
adolescent  mind.     It  seems  to  me  that,  from  the  nature 


WHAT  BOTANY  IS   OF   MOST  WORTH?  31 

of  the  case,  such  an  optimum  course  ought  to  exist  and  be 
discoverable  through  discussion,  trial,  and  experience. 
When  found,  it  would  offer  a  standard  framework  equally 
applicable  wherever  Botany  is  taught,  though  it  should 
always  allow  a  margin  for  the  play  of  the  individuality  of 
the  teacher,  and  for  adaptation  to  legitimate  local  condi- 
tions. 

It  may  seem  at  first  sight  that  the  formulation  of  any 
such  optimum  and  standard  course  would  be  well-nigh 
impossible  because  of  hopeless  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
what  should  constitute  its  content.  It  is  true  that  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  its  formulation  rests  in  the  difference 
of  opinion  amongst  authorities  as  to  what  should  enter 
into  its  construction.  Where,  however,  opinions  are  con- 
victions founded  on  the  study  of  evidence,  only  full  dis- 
cussion, based  upon  experience,  is  necessary  to  bring 
about  a  substantial  agreement.  But  it  is  a  fact  that 
most  of  our  supposed  opinions  are  only  predilections  based 
on  some  unconscious  prejudice  given  us  by  early  sur- 
roundings or  education,  and  are  no  more  matters  of  con- 
viction than  is  the  language  we  speak  or  the  town  that 
we  live  in.  By  constant  meditation  upon  the  excel- 
lences of  those  phases  of  the  science  which  he  likes  most, 
usually  those  in  which  he  has  been  best  educated,  one  be- 
comes impressed  by  their  great,  and  very  real,  value  for 
training  and  as  knowledge;  and  in  the  absence  of  constant 
comparison  with  other  phases,  and  of  discussion  with  per- 


32  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

sons  of  other  interests,  one's  own  naturally  comes  to  seem 
most  important  of  all.  It  is,  then,  particularly  important 
in  this  discussion  to  endeavor  to  put  aside  prejudices  based 
upon  the  nature  of  our  own  education  and  occupation,  and 
to  attempt  to  rise  to  a  standpoint  high  enough  to  give  a  view 
over  the  entire  subject.  Happily,  this  is  becoming  easier 
with  each  succeeding  generation  of  teachers,  to  whom  our 
best  colleges  are  now  giving  a  measurably  thorough  and 
well-rounded  botanical  education. 

As  to  the  desirability  of  an  optimum  or  standard  course, 
two  considerations  affirm  it.  In  the  first  place,  both  reason 
and  experience  point  to  the  need  for  some  authoritative 
and  widely- accepted  standard,  or  measure  of  value,  by  which 
teachers  can  estimate  theirown  courses,  towards  which  those 
forced  to  work  under  unfa\'orable  conditions  can  strive  to 
approximate,  and  to  which  all  can  point  as  authority  in  sup- 
port of  their  efforts  to  secure  better  conditions  and  equip- 
ment from  those  in  control  of  educational  policy  and  ex- 
penditure. In  the  second  place,  there  is  a  reason  of  great 
practical  importance  connected  with  the  peculiar  relations 
existing  between  the  large  preparatory  schools  and  the 
great  colleges,  especially  in  the  eastern  United  States,  — 
namely,  since  the  schools  prepare  students  for  many  differ- 
ent colleges,  and  since  the  colleges  draw  students  from  many 
different  schools,  there  must  obviously  be  much  confusion 
and  waste  of  educational  effort  unless  the  schools  can  pre- 
pare on  one  set  of  specifications  (i.e.  a  standard  course) 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  ;^^ 

for  all  colleges,  and  unless  all  colleges  will  accept  prepara- 
tion upon  one  set  of  specifications.  Yet  in  the  past  the 
colleges,  placed  by  circumstances  in  a  position  to  act  the 
tyrant  if  they  chose,  have  largely  made  their  requirements 
each  for  itself,  thus  entailing  an  intolerable  burden  upon 
the  schools;  and  all  the  efforts  of  special  committees  and 
boards  did  not  suffice  to  remove  this  difficulty  until  the 
foundation  of  the  College  Entrance  Examination  Board, 
whose  influence  for  good  in  this  direction  has  already  been 
great  and  gives  promise  of  finally  removing  the  trouble  al- 
together. Now  the  central  principle  of  this  Board  consists 
in  the  pro^'ision  of  standard  courses  which  all  schools  can 
offer  in  the  assurance  that  they  will  be  accepted  by  all  col- 
leges, and  the  Board's  standard  course  in  Botany,  with  other 
related  matter,  is  printed  in  the  Appendix  to  this  book.^ 

We  turn  now  to  consider  the  desirable  content  of  the 
optimum  course.  However  much  we  may  differ  in  details, 
all   teachers   will   agree   upon   this,  —  that  the  optimum 

'  The  College  Entrance  Examination  Board,  although  an  independent 
organization,  is  controlled  by  a  Committee  made  up  of  oflBcially-appointed 
representatives  from  universities  and  colleges  in  the  eastern  states,  (all  of 
vs'hich  now  accept  its  work,)  and  from  a  number  of  the  leading  secondary 
schools.  It  publishes  full  specifications  of  courses,  drawn  up  in  the 
different  subjects  by  authoritative  committees  from  representative  as- 
sociations, and  holds  examinations  thereon  every  June  in  all  the  large 
centers  in  the  United  States  and  in  some  foreign  countries.  Its  work  is  of 
course  more  important  in  the  East,  where  the  schools  and  colleges  are 
wholly  independent  of  one  another  and  largely  independent  of  any  geo- 
graphical segregation,  than  in  the  West,  where  the  State  Universities 
have  complete  control  over  the  courses  given  by  the  schools,  and  where 

D 


34  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

botanical  course  is  that  which  combines  the  best  scientific 
training  with  the  most  useful  knowledge  of  plants.  Our 
inquiry  then  resolves  itself  into  these  two  questions :  What 
phases  of  Botany  best  develop  the  scientific  powers  ? 
What  knowledge  of  plants  is  most  useful  to  the  average 
man? 

A  study  of  the  ways  in  which  intellectual  results  are  won 
in  science,  as  indeed  in  most  fields  of  practical  endeavor 
as  well,  shows  that  there  is  but  one  scientific  method,  and 
that  is  made  up  of  three  cooperating  elements,  viz.  first, 
exact  observation  of  things  as  they  are;  second,  critical  com- 
parison of  the  results  thereof ;  and  third,  logical  testing  of  the 
derived  conclusions.  Each  by  itself  is  of  small  value,  but 
yoked  together  they  form  the  invincible  phalanx  by  which 
man  is  enabled  to  force  his  advances  into  the  stubborn 
unknown. 

Of  all  scientific  powers,  then,  the  foremost  is  that  of  exact 
observation,  and  therefore  the  cultivation  of  observation 
should  constitute  the  first  care  of  any  course.  Observa- 
tion, however,  does  not  consist,  scientifically  at  least,  in 

the  vast  majority  of  students  attending  college  in  any  given  state  go  to  their 
State  University.  If  the  reader  desires  any  further  information  concern- 
ing the  work,  personnel,  publications,  etc.  of  the  Board,  he  can  obtain  it  on 
application  to  the  Secretary,  address  Sub-Station  84,  New  York  City. 

This  Board  is  but  one  element  in  a  strong  movement  towards  standard- 
ization of  the  framework  of  education  in  this  country.  Other  important 
contributions  thereto  are  contained  in  an  address  by  E.  E.  Brown,  in 
Science  30,  1909,  417,  and  in  a  Report  of  a  special  committee  in  the  same 
journal,  590. 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  35 

a  habit  of  taking  note  of  everything  existing  or  occuring 
around  one.  Indeed,  some  of  the  best  scientific  observers 
can  be  most  oblivious  of  the  details  of  their  surroundings. 
But  it  consists  in  a  power  of  concentrating  the  eye  and  at- 
tention at  will  upon  any  desired  object  and  seeing  therein 
all  that  it  contains  of  fact  and  relation.  It  is  an  aggressive 
power  which  can  at  will  be  roused  to  militant  action  and 
thrown  against  a  problem,  though  at  other  times  it  may 
remain  passive  or  latent.  It  is,  moreover,  a  wholly  sub- 
jective activity,  non-existent  outside  of  the  observer,  to 
which  the  object  observed  remains  deadly  indifferent. 
This  is  always  a  surprise  to  young  students,  who  expect 
each  point  of  importance  to  call  attention  to  itself  by 
some  suitable  method,  something  like  showing  a  tiny  red 
light  or  sounding  a  little  bell ;  and  they  learn  only  slowly 
that  the  gains  from  observation  must  always  be  wrested 
from  a  silent  and  sullen  enemy. 

For  training  in  observation  there  is  certainly  nothing  so 
good  as  the  study  of  structure,  the  actual  fact-features  in- 
dependent of  explanation,  exhibited  by  plants.  More- 
over, in  order  to  permit  of  the  undisturbed  concentration 
of  eye,  mind,  and  hand  upon  the  work,  uncomplicated  by 
distractions  introduced  by  the  use  of  unfamiliar  methods 
or  tools,  the  first  laboratory  studies  should  be  centered 
upon  objects  of  clearly  defined  characters,  already  some- 
what familiar  and  large  enough  not  to  require  special  in- 
struments.    Answering  to  these  demands  there  is  certainly 


36  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

nothing  better  than  the  structure  of  the  familiar  flowering 
plants.  In  this  respect  the  older  type  of  botanical  instruc- 
tion which  prevailed  into  the  present  generation,  that  which 
rested  almost  wholly  upon  the  structure  of  the  flowering 
plants,  was  particularly  strong,  and  I  doubt  if  we  shall  ever 
find  a  more  logical  or  a  better  practical  starting  point 
and  axis  for  botanical  courses  than  it  offered.  Whether 
we  begin,  as  did  Asa  Gray,  with  a  study  of  germinating 
seedlings,  or,  as  seems  very  practicable,  with  a  study  of 
leaves  and  their  work,  or,  as  is  commonly  done  in  these 
days,  with  a  study  of  seeds,  does  not  matter  particularly, 
the  main  point  lying  in  the  use  at  first  of  large  and  more 
or  less  familiar  materials.  Later,  when  special  instru- 
ments are  introduced,  the  various  phases  of  microscopic 
structure  become  available,  and  they  are  equally  good 
for  observational  training.  In  general,  therefore,  plant 
structure,  on  the  lines  of  the  older  type  of  instruction, 
forms  the  best  beginning  and  axis  for  any  course. 

Second  among  the  scientific  powers  comes  that  for  criti- 
cal comparison,  involving  correlation  and  generalization. 
It  comprises  training  in  ability  to  compare  a  series  of  vari- 
able structures  with  a  view  to  eliminating  the  variable 
and  unimportant,  and  to  distinguishing  the  constant  and 
important.  In  another  phase  it  includes  a  power  to  trace 
back,  through  a  series  of  stages,  differing  forms  to  a  com- 
mon origin  or  similar  forms  to  their  different  origins,  as 
the  cage  may  be.     In  Biology  the  chief  field  for  the  exercise 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  37 

of  this  power,  so  valuable  in  many  other  fields  as  well, 
lies  in  the  study  of  Morphology;  and,  for  development  of 
the  jnorphological  instinct,  well-nigh  ideal  materials  are 
offered  by  the  manifold  modifications  and  metamorphoses 
of  the  members  of  the  higher  plants.  It  is  true,  the  mor- 
phological transitions  from  group  to  group  in  the  study  of 
the  plant  kingdom  are  not  inferior,  except  in  regard  to  prac- 
tical difficulties  of  manipulation.  The  study  of  the  mor- 
phology of  the  parts  of  the  higher  plants  as  formerly  treated 
was,  however,  injured  by  the  introduction  of  certain  formal- 
istic  conceptions,  against  which  I  give  warning  in  the  ninth 
chapter  of  this  book;  but  viewed  in  the  more  objective 
light  thrown  by  modem  studies,  this  morphology  of  the 
higher  plants  forms  an  invaluable  element  in  any  botanical 
course.  Equally  good  material  is  offered  also  by  modem 
studies  in  internal  morphology,  through  anatomy;  but, 
here  again,  practical  difficulties  in  the  study  give  a  strong 
advantage  to  external  morphology. 

Third  among  scientific  powers  comes  that  for  logically 
testing  the  truth  or  falsity  of  probabilities  suggested  by  the 
results  of  observation  and  comparison.  For  training  in 
this  power  our  science  offers  admirable  means  in  physio- 
logical experimenting.  If  suitably  linked  to  observation 
of  the  great  leading  facts  of  structure  and  morphology  in 
correlation  with  habits,  and  used  as  a  test  of  conclusions 
suggested  by  reasoning  thereon,  and  if  conducted,  as  it 
should  be,  under  rigidly  controlled  conditions,  it  is  a  dis- 


38  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

cipline  of  the  first  value.  Now  it  is  an  actual  fact  that 
physiological  experimentation  is  most  practicable  upon 
large  plants,  —  the  common  large  and  familiar  forms 
which  in  general  are  the  same  as  we  use  for  the  study  of 
morphology  and  structure. 

So  far  as  concerns  scientific  training,  therefore,  I  con- 
clude that  the  best  material  offered  by  the  science  consists 
in  the  structure,  morphology,  and  experimental  physiol- 
ogy of  the  higher  plants. 

There  are  teachers  who  do  not  agree  that  it  is  best 
to  begin  a  general  course  in  Botany  with  the  study  of  the 
familiar  higher  plants,  but  who  prefer  some  other  plan, 
usually  the  study  of  the  plants  by  groups,  beginning  with 
the  lower  forms.  With  some  teachers  this  is  an  opinion 
formed  on  the  basis  of  experience.  With  others  it  repre- 
sents a  plan  which  appeals  to  them  as  embodying  the  best 
theory,  although  they  usually  abandon  it  after  some  trial. 
With  still  others,  including  some  younger  teachers,  I  have 
sometimes  fancied  that  it  arose  rather  from  the  innate 
desire  we  all  have  to  be  a  little  different  from  others,  or 
to  lead  a  .change  from  the  old  ways.  This  spirit  is  part  of 
a  deep-seated  characteristic  of  living  beings,  the  basis,  I 
have  no  doubt,  of  unceasing  variation  in  organisms,  of  fluc- 
tuation of  fashions  among  people,  and  of  the  feeling  which 
made  the  Athenians  grow  tired  of  hearing  Aristides  called 
The  Just.  This  feeling  can  easily  become  a  source  of 
error  in  judgment,  and  the  young  teacher  should  make 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  39 

sure  that  his  opposition  to  older  courses,  and  his  preference 
for  something  new,  is  not  simply  a  manifestation  thereof. 

We  turn  next  to  ask  what  Botany  is  of  most  worth 
as  knowledge  to  the  average  man  of  education.  An  ele- 
mentar}^  course  must  take  careful  account  of  this,  since 
the  great  majority  of  students  go  no  further  in  the  subject, 
and  the  course  must  be  made  complete  in  itself  for  them, 
as  well  as  a  foundation  for  those  who  continue  into  higher 
work.  The  most  important  knowledge,  I  should  say,  is 
that  which,  when  a  man  looks  upon  the  world  of  plants,  en- 
ables him  to  know  those  facts  about  them  which  are  most 
fundamental,  wide-reaching,  and  illuminating.  His  knowl- 
edge must,  therefore,  include  an  acquaintance  with  the 
main  facts  as  to  what  they  are  made  of  and  their  architec- 
tural construction:  what  they  are  doing  in  their  daily 
lives,  and  how  these  lives  are  interwoven  with  those  of 
animals:  why  they  have  the  shapes  and  colors  and  sizes 
and  other  notable  peculiarities  they  exhibit:  what  differ- 
ent kinds  of  them  there  are,  and  how  they  have  evolved 
from  lower  to  higher  groups. 

To  make  a  course  valuable  for  knowledge  content  as 
well  as  for  training,  therefore,  it  must  involve  some  personal 
acquaintance  by  the  student  with  the  cellular  structure 
of  plants,  —  what  cells  are  like,  and  what  are  the  appear- 
ance and  characteristics  of  that  all-essential  protoplasm 
of  which  every  person  of  education  hears  much,  and  in 
what  ways  the  tissues  build  up  the  great  plant  structures, 


40 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


SO  Strikingly  adaptive  to  many  and  diverse  external 
conditions.  Incidentally,  also,  this  study  will  remove 
all  mystery  from  the  microscope,  and  make  him  know 
the  real  nature  and  value  of  this  principal  tool  of  bio- 
logical research,  —  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  tools 
that  man  has  developed.  The  general  botanical  course 
must,  therefore,  include  some  microscopical  work  upon 
cells  and  tissues.  It  cannot  include  enough  to  give  any 
thorough  knowledge  in  detail,  it  is  true,  but  it  can  go 
far  enough  to  open  up  this  important  subject  and  give 
some  accurate  first-hand  knowledge  of  what  it  is  all 
about,  which  is  as  much  as  can  be  expected  in  a  general 

course. 

The  second  kind  of  illuminating  knowledge  concerns 
■  the  daily  life  of  plants.  Therefore,  it  should  include  some 
acquaintance,  based  upon  experiment,  with  the  great  lead- 
ing processes,  —  photosynthesis,  a  knowledge  of  which  is 
indispensable  to  an  understanding  of  the  real  place  of 
plants  in  nature  and  of  their  relations  to  animals :  assimila- 
tion, with  its  explanation  of  the  need  for  minerals,  ferti- 
lizers, etc. :  respiration,  with  its  important  economic  con- 
nections :  modes  of  absorption,  transport  and  elimination 
of  substances ;  growth  and  its  nature :  reproduction,  with 
its  processes  and  significance :  and  the  method  by  which 
plants  adjust  themselves,  through  their  irritability,  to  their 
immediate  surroundings.  A  general  course,  therefore, 
should  include  a  study  of  these  primary  physiological  pro- 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  4I 

cesses.  Such  study  has  a  further  value  in  this :  that  as 
most  of  these  processes  are  physically,  chemically,  and  bio- 
logically identical  with  the  corresponding  processes  in 
animals,  while  far  simpler  and  more  practicable  for  study, 
the  students'  knowledge  is  thus  doubly  extended. 

The  third  kind  of  illuminating  knowledge  is  concerned 
with  the  explanations  of  the  shapes,  sizes,  colors,  and 
peculiarities  of  form  exhibited  by  plants.  This  study  we 
call  ecology.  It  is  as  yet  a  somewhat  nebulous  subject, 
with  a  larger  accumulation  of  fact  matter  than  we  can 
see  the  significance  of,  reminding  one  somewhat  of  a 
highly  saturated  solution  which  has  not  yet  managed  to 
crystallize,  but  which  will  do  so  when  a  suitable  nucleus 
is  presented.  Nevertheless,  we  do  really  know  much  of 
importance  upon  the  matters  ecology  represents;  and 
some  instruction  therein,  even  though  largely  theoretical, 
is  certainly  important. 

The  fourth  kind  of  illuminating  knowledge  about 
plants  concerns  the  different  kinds,  with  the  ways  they 
live  and  their  connections  with  one  another.  This,  like 
the  other  phases  of  botany,  is  endless;  and  only  enough 
can  be  considered  to  show  the  general  natural  history  of 
the  principal  groups  in  the  plant  kingdom.  The  student 
who  has  had  a  general  course  need  not  know  many  Algae, 
but  he  should  know  what  Algae  are,  their  most  striking 
divisions,  the  ways  in  which  they  make  their  living  and 
reproduce,  and  the  fact  that  they  have  formed  the  starting 


42  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

point  for  the  evolution  of  the  other  groups.  He  cannot 
know  many  Fungi,  but  he  should  know  what  Fungi  are, 
how  they  are  nourished,  and  what  is  the  nature  of  the 
damage  they  do  to  man's  health  and  his  crops;  and  he 
should  certainly  know  something  about  the  operation  of 
Bacteria  and  Yeasts,  which  so  profoundly  affect  his  wel- 
fare. In  the  same  way  he  should  know  in  general  the 
essential  characteristics  and  habits  of  the  Lichens, 
the  Liverworts  and  Mosses,  the  Fern  Plants  and  the 
Seed  Plants;  and  he  should  have  a  general  knowledge  of 
the  remarkable  relations  existing  bet\veen  these  groups. 

In  general,  in  this  study,  acquaintance  with  larger  and 
more  prominent  forms  is  more  important  than  acquaint- 
ance with  the  lower  and  inconspicuous  kinds,  for  a  knowl- 
edge of  things  that  can  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye,  and 
are  likely  to  be  met  with  again  and  again,  is  more  im- 
portant than  a  knowledge  of  things  requiring  special  in- 
struments for  their  detection,  though  to  this  there  are 
many  exceptions. 

For  the  sake  of  its  knowledge  value,  therefore,  no 
general  course  can  afford  to  confine  itself  to  that  struc- 
ture, morphology,  and  physiology  of  the  higher  plants 
which  afford  the  best  of  material  for  training;  but  it 
should  include  a  study  of  cellular  structure,  physiology 
considered  as  knowledge,  the  elements  of  ecology,  and 
some  treatment  of  structure  and  habits  of  plants  from 
all  the  great  leading  groups.     It  may  seem  at  first  sight 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  43 

impossible  to  include  so  much  within  the  compass  of  a 
general  course  and  do  it  well.     But  in  fact  it  can  be  done, 
and  is  done.     The  possibility  thereof  rests  partly  upon 
the  increased  skill  and  facilities  which  have  become  avail- 
able in  recent  years,  partly  upon  a  rigid  selection  of  the 
more  important  and  illuminating  matters  for  treatment, 
and  partly  upon  the  combination  of  the  topics  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  them   throw  light  upon  one  another. 
Nowhere,  probably,   is  any  attempt  now  made  to  treat 
these  various  constituents  of  the  course  separately,  but 
they  are  always  welded  together  in  one  way  or  another. 
The  commonest  method  appears  to  be  that  in  which  the 
course  is  divided  into  two  parts.     The  first  part  is  based 
upon  the  study  of  the  higher  plants  as  followed  through 
their  cycle  of  development  in  typical  examples,  the  struc- 
ture, morphology,  physiology,  and  ecology  of  each  lead- 
ing organ  being  considered  in  order.     The  second  part 
consists  of  a  study  of  the  natural  history  of  the  groups  of 
plants,  a  subject  which,  with  the  knowledge  acquired  in 
the  first  part,  the  student  works  through  with  a  facility 
and  understanding  which  he  could  not  command  if  this 
work  formed  the  beginning  of  his  instruction.     Such  a 
course  is  essentially  synthetic.     It  is  the  kind  which  is 
most   prominent   in   botanical   education   at   the   present 
time.     It  is  represented  in  the  recommendations  in  this 
book,  is  embodied  in  the  outlines  in  Part  II,  is  followed 
in  substantially  all  of  the  prominent  recent  text-books,  is 


44  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

used  in  innumerable  schools  and  colleges,  is  adopted  in 
the  important  option,  or  unit  course,  used  by  the  College 
Entrance  Examination  Board,  and  is  accepted  in  the 
unit  recently  formulated  by  the  teachers  of  the  Middle 
West. 

Among  the  phases  of  botanical  study  which  ought, 
because  of  their  knowledge  value,  to  be  introduced  into 
a  general  course,  there  is  one  which  I  have  reserved  for 
special  discussion,  viz.  that  contributing  to  an  under- 
standing of  agriculture,  horticulture,  and  other  economic 
matters.  We  are  witnessing  at  this  day  a  remarkable 
awakening  of  interest  in  this  phase  of  botanical  education, 
especially  in  the  Middle  West.  In  the  minds  of  many 
persons  who  make  the  demand  for  the  introduction  of 
such  knowledge,  it  means  the  addition  of  formal  instruc- 
tion in  these  subjects,  even  to  the  exclusion  of  some  of 
the  more  scientific  phases  if  necessary,  and  it  reflects  the 
same  short-sighted  spirit  which  would  make  all  education 
"practical."  But  in  the  minds  of  the  teachers  of  the 
Middle  West,  who  have  taken  up  the  subject  with  much 
energy  (as  their  new  unit  course  in  Botany,  printed  in 
the  Appendix  to  this  book,  sufficiently  testifies),  it  has  a 
very  different,  and  a  thoroughly  educational,  meaning. 
It  is  yet  too  early  to  say  in  what  way  this  knowledge 
can  best  be  managed  in  our  courses,  for  at  present  the 
subject  is  wholly  unformulated  for  practical  administra- 
tion, and  a  vast  amount  of  study  and  experiment  will  be 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  45 

needed  before  we  can  introduce  it  into  our  botanical  courses 
without  doing  them  more  injury  than  good.  It  seems  to 
me  wholly  unlikely  that  formal  instruction  in  economic 
topics  can  ever  be  made  profitable  in  a  general  botanical 
course,  nor  indeed  do  I  think  it  is  the  best  way  to  attain 
the  desired  end.  i\side  from  the  question  of  time,  most 
schools  have  neither  the  equipment  nor  the  environment 
to  make  such  work  profitable,  for  it  must  be  studied 
practically  to  be  of  any  real  use.  But  in  addition  to  this, 
the  study  of  economic  matters,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  does  not  seem  to  be,  like  morphology,  physiology, 
and  natural  history  of  groups,  a  separate  discipline,  but 
rather  is  an  extension  of  those  subjects  into  the  economic 
field.  The  most  thorough  knowledge  of  economic  sub- 
jects must  surely  be  that  which  arises  from  an  understand- 
ing of  the  fundamental  scientific  facts  or  phenomena 
upon  which  they  depend.  Hence  the  most  logical  plan 
for  the  study  of  economics  would  seem  to  be  this,  —  to 
study  the  scientific  facts  of  structure,  physiology,  etc., 
primarily  in  a  scientific  way,  and  then,  whenever  a  sub- 
ject is  met  with  which  underlies  or  explains  some  im- 
portant process  in  agriculture  or  the  arts,  the  economic 
matter  should  be  carefully  treated  in  the  light  thrown  by 
science  upon  it.  It  is  characteristic  of  all  the  modern 
and  successful  scientific  study  of  agriculture,  horticulture, 
and  other  economic  subjects,  that  the  economic  phases 
are  grounded  first  in  thorough  scientific  investigation  of 


46  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

the  conditions  concerned,  and  this  is  the  principle  upon 
which  all  of  the  very  successful  work  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  is  being  done.  To  begin  with  economics 
and  work  back  to  the  scientific  basis  thereof  seems  to  me 
justified  neither  by  theory  nor  experience,  while  begin- 
ning with  scientific  study  and  working  thence  to  economics 
seems  to  me  in  accord  with  both.  Of  course  this  method 
has  been  to  a  considerable  extent  used  by  all  teachers  in 
their  regular  work,  and  I  have  myself  often  noted  the 
interest  taken  by  students  in  economic  subjects  thus 
presented.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  our  courses  should 
give  more  careful  and  systematic  attention  then  hereto- 
fore to  these  matters.  Whenever  the  work  of  students 
can  thus  be  linked  with  the  important  affairs  of  practical 
life,  it  is  an  immense  advantage,  both  as  making  them 
more  truly  educated  persons,  and  as  giving  them  a  better 
understanding  of,  and  interest  in,  their  work. 

From  this  discussion  of  the  broad  subject  of  the  value 
of  the  different  phases  of  Botany  in  a  general  course  we 
turn  to  consider  certain  special  matters  of  which  the 
worth  is  still  more  or  less  in  debate.  Of  these  the  first 
in  importance  concerns  the  study  of  the  classification  of 
the  higher  plants,  with  their  identification  by  use  of 
Manuals,  and  the  naturally- associated  herbarium-making. 
As  everybody  knows,  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  this  was 
a  large  part,  sometimes  almost  the  exclusive  whole,  of 
general  botanical  instruction,  and  it  still  lingers  in  places 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  47 

though  often  in  only  a  rudimentary  or  perfunctory  state. 
Moreover,  it  is  very  generally  omitted  altogether  from  our 
present  botanical  courses.  The  omission,  I  believe,  is 
partly  administrative  and  partly  educational.  The  indis- 
pensability  of  field  study  for  such  work,  in  face  of  the 
extreme  difficulties  (presently  to  be  mentioned  more 
fully)  which  field  study  has  to  meet  in  the  largest  of  our 
schools,  almost  prohibits  it  in  the  majority  of  places. 
Educationally  it  certainly  gave  a  training  of  the  highest 
character  in  observation,  comparison,  and  description; 
but  in  these  respects  it  had  no  superiority  to  the  subjects 
now  in  our  courses,  supposing  the  teaching  to  be  equally 
good.  In  knowledge  value,  however,  the  identification 
work  was  limited  and  special,  and  in  this  feature  it  was, 
for  the  great  majority  of  general  students  and  especially 
for  dwellers  in  cities,  inferior  to  that  yielded  by  our  pres- 
ent courses,  which,  whatever  their  other  defects,  certainly 
illuminate  somewhat  widely  the  world  of  plants  and 
animals.  Theoretically  it  seems  an  admirable  plan  to 
teach  every  student  how  to  identify  the  common  plants 
around  him,  and  to  give  him  some  good  start  in  doing  it; 
but  in  fact,  as  we  all  know,  extremely  few  ever  continued 
the  work  beyond  the  course.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
identification  work  had  one  marked  superiority  over  our 
present  courses;  namely,  it  gave  to  those  who  did  con- 
tinue it  a  healthful  interest  which  they  could  follow  as  an 
absorbing  recreation  in  after  life.     Moreover,  a  knowl- 


48  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

edge  of  the  names  and  classification  of  plants,  and  an 
ability  to  use  Manuals  for  their  identification,  is  indis- 
pensable to  those  who  engage  professionally  in  botanical 
work,  especially  teaching.  These  facts  taken  together 
appear  to  show  the  proper  place  for  identification  work. 
It  should  not  be  made  a  part  of  the  required  work  for  all 
students,  but  should  be  opened  to  those  who  have  a  taste 
or  a  need  therefor.  Its  value  and  interest  should  be  pre- 
sented strongly  to  all  students  in  general  courses,  and 
then,  by  means  of  voluntary  or  special  divisions,  some 
training  in  the  use  of  Manuals,  with  related  matters  in- 
cluding herbarium-making,  should  be  given.  Colleges, 
of  course,  ought  to  offer  elective  courses  therein,  with 
attention  to  nomenclature  and  taxonomic  methods.  The 
subject  is  one  which  can  be  studied,  to  a  much  greater 
degree  than  most  others,  by  one's  self;  and  it  forms  very 
suitable  work  for  the  summer  vacations  which  it  will  help  to 
utilize.  Arrangements  should  be  made  to  count  good  field 
work  of  this  kind  in  the  student's  schedule  of  study.  No 
person  preparing  for  advanced  botanical  teaching  should 
be  certified  as  competent  without  some  such  training. 
There  is  another  reason  why  identification  is  a  less 
appropriate  part  of  a  general  course  than  it  used  to  be, 
and  that  is  found  in  the  character  of  our  Manuals  them- 
selves. The  extreme  refinement  of  modern  systematic 
study  has  resulted  in  the  discovery  that  our  old  visible, 
or    Linnasan,  species  are  really  aggregates  of   minor  or 


WHAT   BOTANY   IS   OF   MOST   WORTH?  49 

elementary  species.  In  many  groups  the  number  of 
species,  distinguished,  however,  for  the  most  part  by 
marks  which  none  but  an  expert  can  recognize,  has  been 
increased  manifold,  and  no  doubt  an  equally  critical  study 
of  other  groups  will  yield  similar  results.  In  conse- 
quence our  Manuals  are  becoming  usable  only  by  expert 
botanists,  and  the  ordinary  student  cannot  take  any 
satisfaction  in  them.  Of  course  these  elementary  species 
are  real  entities,  at  least  for  the  most  part,  and  must  be 
suitably  recorded  in  appropriate  works.  But  I  agree  with 
several  botanists  who  have  said  that  for  educational  pur- 
poses we  must  have  manuals  which  describe  only  the  old 
Linnaean  species,  those  classification  units  which  are  recog- 
nizable without  the  service  of  experts,  while  the  treatment 
of  the  elementary  species  should  be  relegated  to  mono- 
graphs or  other  technical  works.  Moreover,  these 
Manuals  themselves  will  be  far  more  useful  and  attrac- 
tive if  they  include  information  upon  other  striking  facts, 
—  morphological,  ecological,  economic,  historical, — con- 
nected with  the  respective  species. 

The  second  matter  needing  some  discussion  in  this 
connection  is  the  place  and  importance  of  field  work. 
That  field  excursions  should  be  taken  as  often  as  possi- 
ble, even  into  parks  and  botanical  gardens  when  no  wild 
region  is  available,  I  think  all  teachers  will  agree;  and 
certainly  that  is  my  opinion.  Nevertheless  I  think  that 
field  excursions  must,  for  practical  reasons,  always  remain 


50  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

for  most  schools  a  very  minor  element  in  their  instruction; 
while,  furthermore,  I  am  of  opinion  that  they  are  not  so 
indispensable  to  a  good  course  as  is  sometimes  maintained. 
In  the  majority  of  schools  field  excursions  involve  great 
administrative  difficulties  in  the  securing  of  sufficient 
time  therefor,  in  access  to  suitable  localities,  and  in  the 
discipline  of  full-spirited  youth.  Furthermore,  only  small 
numbers  can  profitably  be  allowed  on  field  trips  (a  sub- 
ject on  which  I  comment  elsewhere),  while  most  teachers 
have  to  deal  with  very  large  numbers;  and  besides,  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  American  school  and  college  year 
the  field  material  is  available  only  for  a  little  while  in 
spring  and  autumn.  On  the  other  hand,  in  well-organized 
laboratories  commanding  a  sufficiency  of  living  material, 
students  can  be  managed  and  taught  in  the  large  groups 
which  are  an  essential  feature  of  this  problem.  E\-en  if 
field  excursions  were  just  as  practicable  administratively 
as  laborator}^  work,  I  do  not  believe  that  they  ought  to 
form  a  substitute  for  any  great  part  of  the  latter.^  I 
believe  it  is  found  by  those  who  conduct  much  field  work 
that  this  is  something  which  looks  better  in  theory'  than 
it  works   in  practice,  and  that  the  results  are  meager  in 

'  If  the  reader  wishes  to  learn  the  most  that  can  be  said  in  favor  of 
field  work,  with,  incidentally,  the  most  that  can  be  said  against  the 
present  laboratory  courses,  he  will  find  both  in  an  article  by  C.  F.  Hodge 
in  the  Nature-Study  Review  for  September,  190S.  With  this  he  may 
wish  to  compare  my  answer  upon  both  points  in  the  same  journal  for 
November,  1908. 


WHAT   BOTANY  IS    OF   MOST   WORTH?  51 

amount  in  proportion  to  the  effort  expended.  But,  how- 
ever meager  in  quantity,  the  results  are  very  precious  in 
quahty,  for  they  serve  to  link,  through  the  bond  of  per- 
sonal experience,  the  necessarily  somewhat  artificial  or  con- 
ventional work  of  the  laboratory  with  the  realities  of  na- 
ture in  the  large.  It  is  in  this  linking  of  laboratory  with 
nature,  rather  than  in  any  knowledge  which  it  imparts 
in  itself,  that  the  chief  value  of  field  work  must  consist 
for  most  students  under  the  conditions  prevailing  in  our 
modern  schools  and  colleges.  The  teacher  will  therefore 
do  well  to  plan  for  his  field  work  from  this  point  of  view. 
The  substance  of  this  whole  matter  is,  after  all,  nothing 
other  than  this,  that  botanical  education  under  modern 
conditions  is  as  much  an  administrative  as  an  educational 
problem.  Laboratory  courses  are  administrable;  those 
requiring  much  field  work  are  not.  Good  generalship  re- 
quires, therefore,  that  we  direct  our  efforts  towards  mak- 
ing our  laboratory  courses  just  as  valuable  in  themselves 
as  possible.  This  is  to  be  done  by  developing  all  possible 
devices  of  natural  gardens,  greenhouses,  aquaria,  mu- 
seums, pictures,  and  other  illustrations  which  can  serve 
to  make  our  laboratories  represent  nature  as  nearly  as 
possible,  by  occasional  excursions,  the  oftener  the  better, 
and  by  especial  attention  to  the  matters  which  laboratory 
and  class  room  are  particularly  fitted  to  teach,  —  namely, 
the  fruits  of  the  accumulated  botanical  knowledge  of  the 
race,  especially  in  relation  to  man's  interests. 


52  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

III.   ON  THE  TRAINING  AND  TRAITS  OF  THE 
GOOD   BOTANICAL  TEACHER 

Of  all  requirements  for  good  botanical  teaching  the 
most  important  by  far  is  the  good  teacher.  Ideally  he  is 
a  person  of  capacity  born  for  this  work,  and  furnished 
with  the  best  obtainable  botanical  education.  The 
selection  of  the  person  is  largely  dependent  upon  the 
nature  and  attractiveness  of  the  profession,  and  the  more 
attractive  we  can  make  botanical  teaching  the  better  the 
quality  of  the  persons  who  will  enter  it.  A  good  botani- 
cal education  can  be  acquired. 

The  best  basis  for  a  botanical  education  is  derived  from 
a  college  course  in  which  especial  attention  is  paid  not 
only  to  Botany  as  a  science,  but  also  to  its  teaching.  I 
say  "basis,"  because  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  best  educa- 
tion is  self-education  derived  from  actual  experience  and 
effort,  for  which,  however,  the  college  course  affords  the 
best  foundation.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  here,  as 
elsewhere,  it  pays  to  have  the  best.  Without  doubt  the 
future  teachers  of  Botany,  in  high  school  as  well  as  college, 
will  be  college  trained,  and  indeed  there  are  indications 
that  some  such  training  is  to  be  made  a  requirement  in 
the  more  progressive  States.  If  the  teacher  can  have  in 
addition  a  year  or  more  of  graduate  work  it  will  be  an 
immense  advantage,  especially  for  the  possibility  it  gives 
of  some  first-hand  experience  with  investigation  under  a 


TRAINING   OF   THE   TEACHER  53 

competent  teacher.  It  is  of  course  true  that  not  many  high 
schools  can  employ  teachers  of  Botany  alone,  but  the  ten- 
dency to  employ  teachers  who  can  teach  Botany  as  one  of 
a  limited  group  of  closely  related  subjects  is  on  the  increase. 
But  while  a  college  course  followed  by  some  work  in  a 
university  affords  the  best  existent  preparation  for  botani- 
cal teaching,  it  is  not  at  all  ideal.  For  one  thing  the 
universities,  and  to  a  lesser  degree  the  colleges  (which  are 
strongly  influenced  by  them),  lay  an  emphasis  upon  in- 
vestigation out  of  all  proportion  to  its  importance  to 
teachers,  and  even  to  an  extent  of  actual  injury  to  them, 
—  a  matter  of  which  I  shall  speak  later.  But  another 
and  more  serious  fault  is  this,  that  the  teacher  receives 
no  instruction  in  some  matters  very  essential  for  him  to 
know.  Thus,  he  can  take  many  elaborate  courses  with- 
out having  the  opportunity,  or  at  least  without  being 
required,  to  know  the  common  facts  about  the  com- 
monest plants  around  him,  being  sometimes  unable  to 
identify  the  plants  of  his  native  flora.  Again,  he  may 
know  nothing  more  of  the  historical  or  biographical 
phases  of  the  science  than  he  may  have  picked  up  inci- 
dentally, although  for  teaching  purposes  such  knowledge  is 
vastly  important,  not  only  for  the  favorable  background 
it  offers  for  the  projection  of  present-day  knowledge,  but 
also  for  the  purpose  of  placing  at  the  disposal  of  the 
teacher  the  dramatic,  heroic,  and  humanistic  aspects  of  the 
science.     Again,  he  is  usually  taught  nothing  of  the  tech- 


54  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

nique  of  laboratory  administration,  as  to  laboratory  con- 
struction, furniture,  apparatus,  supplies,  and  manipula- 
tion. Again,  he  is  allowed  to  take  up  the  instruction  of 
young  people  without  the  slightest  knowledge  of  the 
results,  very  valuable  all  imperfect  though  they  are, 
which  have  been  won  in  the  scientific  study  of  the  psy- 
chology of  the  adolescent  mind.  Nor  does  he  receive  any 
education  at  all  in  the  exposition  or  interpretation  of 
scientific  knowledge.  Yet  these  are  all  matters  in  which 
the  teacher  needs  training  far  more,  as  a  rule,  than  he 
does  in  investigation.  They  will  receive  due  attention 
without  doubt  in  the  future,  and  will  be  certified  by  appro- 
priate titles  or  degrees,  as  this  matter  of  training  of  sci- 
ence teachers  becomes  better  organized  and  standardized. 
Meantime  there  is  nothing  for  the  teacher  to  do  but  to 
work  up  these  matters  for  himself. 

Next  in  value  to  college  and  university  training  comes 
attendance  at  summer  schools,  which  several  of  the  prin- 
cipal universities,  and  some  scientific  institutions,  main- 
tain in  the  vacations  for  those  who  cannot  attend  the 
winter  sessions.  The  obvious  objection  to  these,  that 
they  impose  hard  work  at  a  time  when  the  teacher  should 
be  resting,  is  not  so  great  as  it  seems.  The  change  in 
occupation,  surroundings,  and  companions  brings  so 
much  relief  in  itself  that  the  work  is  less  trying;  and 
besides,  if  the  learner's  spirit  is  of  the  right  sort,  and  the 
teaching  is  of  the  true  quality,  the  pleasure  of  it  all  should 


TRAINING    OF   THE   TEACHER 


55 


go  far  to  lighten  the  labor.  In  my  own  experience,  toOj 
I  have  found  that  there  is  more  rest  in  change  of  occupa- 
tion than  in  absence  of  it.  Perhaps  the  mind  is  in  this 
like  the  soil,  that  it  does  not  need  to  lie  fallow,  but  can 
continue  to  bear  without  exhaustion  if  given  a  wise  rota- 
tion of  crops. 

The  greatest  of  all  summer  schools  in  this  country  is 
one  which  is  at  the  same  time  a  college  course,  —  the 
summer  quarter  of  the  University  of  Chicago.  But  so 
many  of  our  universities  now  maintain  efficient  summer 
schools  that  the  teacher  can  in  all  probability  learn  of  a 
good  one  by  application  to  the  nearest  large  institution. 
Of  important  and  distinctive  character  among  such 
schools  are  the  summer  courses  of  the  marine  biological 
laboratories,  which,  situated  upon  seacoasts,  provide 
well-nigh  ideal  physical  conditions  for  summer  work. 
They  offer,  moreover,  as  a  rule,  excellent  courses  of 
instruction,  the  best  of  material  facilities,  opportunity  to 
work  with  a  flora  otherwise  inaccessible  to  most  teachers, 
the  chance  for  contact  with  eminent  specialists  and  for 
acquaintance  with  other  workers  of  congenial  tastes,  and 
in  general  a  scientific  atmosphere  which  is  worth  at 
least  as  much  to  the  teacher  as  the  instruction  itself. 
The  best  known  of  these  laboratories  are:  The  Marine 
Biological  Laboratory,  at  Woods  Hole,  Massachusetts, 
maintained  by  the  cooperation  of  many  colleges  and 
universities:   the  Laboratory  of  the  Brooklyn  Institute  of 


56  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

Arts  and  Sciences  at  Cold  Spring  Harbor,  Long  Island: 
that  of  Tufts  College  at  Harpswell,  Maine;  that  of 
Leland  Stanford  University  at  Pacific  Grove,  California: 
that  of  the  University  of  California  at  La  Jolla,  California : 
that  of  the  University  of  Washington  at  Friday  Harbor, 
Washington:  and  that  of  the  University  of  Minnesota  at 
Port  Renfrew,  British  Columbia.  In  addition  there  are 
several  lakeside  laboratories  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  All  of  these  laboratories,  like  the  summer 
schools  of  the  universities,  publish  descriptive  announce- 
ments which  may  be  had  upon  application. 

This  mention  of  summer  courses  suggests  the  ad- 
vantages to  the  teacher  of  attending  when  possible  the 
great  scientific  conventions  of  the  country,  which  are  held 
under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  every  year  in  the  Christmas 
vacation,  sometimes  in  one  great  city  and  sometimes  in 
another.  These  meetings  are  all  open  to  everybody, 
and,  despite  the  very  technical  character  of  much  of  their 
proceedings,  and  despite  also  the  rather  inefficient  man- 
agement of  most  of  them,  contain  many  features  of  the 
greatest  value  to  all  botanists,  inclusive  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  see,  hear,  and  meet  the  leaders  in  the  science. 

If  the  teacher  is  so  placed  that  he  has  not  behind  him 
any  adequate  training  under  competent  teachers,  and 
yet  is  determined  or  obliged  to  work  up  some  phases  of 
the  subject  for  himself,  he  can  do  something  by  aid  of 


TRAINING   OF   THE   TEACHER  57 

books.  But  he  should  seek  first  to  obtain  the  advice  of 
some  specialist  in  his  proposed  work,  and  guidance 
if  possible  during  its  progress.  Knowledge  obtained  with- 
out such  guidance  is  sure  to  be  full  of  gaps  and  bad  in 
its  proportions.  Correspondence  courses  are  not  at  all 
prominent  in  botanical  instruction  in  this  country,  but 
would  be  useful  if  well  conducted,  though  a  very  poor 
substitute  indeed,  especially  in  the  sciences,  for  contact 
with  a  skilled  teacher.  No  doubt  books  could,  and  in 
time  will,  be  prepared  as  guides  for  those  who  must  study 
alone;  but  at  present  very  few  exist.^  Much  good  may  be 
derived  from  reading,  but  only  as  supplementary  to  the 
actual  study  of  botanical  objects,  never  as  a  substitute 
for  it.  In  another  part  of  this  work  (Chapter  VIII) 
will  be  found  further  suggestions  upon  reading,  and  lists 
of  the  best  existent  books. 

Whenever  advice  is  needed  about  books  or  any  other 
botanical  matters,  the  teacher  should  not  hesitate  to 
write  to  some  botanical  specialist,  as,  for  example,  the 
Professor  of  Botany  at  the  nearest  large  university.  Most 
specialists  take  pleasure  in  assisting  any  earnest  inquirer, 
and  many  of  them  welcome  this  method  of  extending 
their  own  usefubiess  as  teachers. 

^  Strasburger's  Handbook  of  Practical  Botany  could  thus  be  used, 
and  with  great  profit,  in  plant  anatomy;  and  Bailey's  Lessons  with 
Plants  would  form  a  good  guide  for  such  study  in  general  elementary  work. 
For  physiology  I  have  tried  to  arrange  my  own  Laboratory  Course  in 
Plant  Physiology,  Second  Edition,  so  as  to  make  it  useful  in  this  way. 


58  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

There  is  one  feature  of  the  education  of  the  teaching 
botanist  so  prominent  as  to  deserve  particular  discussion, 
viz.  the  performance  of  some  work  in  original  investiga- 
tion. Good  scientific  teaching  consists  above  all  things 
in  the  inculcation  of  this  very  spirit  of  investigation,  — 
the  instinct  to  attack  new  problems  with  an  expectation  of 
solving  them  by  one's  own  efforts,  —  and  it  is  a  spirit 
which  is  not  confined  to  the  universities  but  in  principle 
applies  to  all  grades  from  the  kindergarten  upward. 
Only  that  teacher  who  has  felt  this  spirit  can  impart  it. 
The  college  graduate,  if  he  has  been  well  taught,  has  ex- 
perienced it,  for  the  best  undergraduate  training  involves 
much  thereof,  though  the  investigation  must,  of  course,  be 
of  a  subjective  and  not  of  an  objective  sort.  But  in  any 
case  it  is  a  great  advantage  for  the  teacher  to  have  had 
a  year  or  two  of  graduate  instruction  involving  some 
real,  or  objective,  investigation  under  a  competent  leader. 
In  the  great  majority  of  cases,  however,  the  teacher  in 
college  or  high  school  cannot  advantageously  continue  to 
carry  on  the  university  type  of  investigation  along  with 
his  teaching.  For  one  thing  he  is  engaged  not  with 
an  understanding  that  he  is  to  be  free  to  do  this,  but 
rather  with  the  assumption  that  he  is  to  give  his  principal 
strength  to  his  teaching,  while  any  investigation  he  does 
is  to  be  in  the  nature  of  recreation.  Moreover,  the  tem- 
per and  temperament  required  for  investigation  and  for 
general  teaching  are  not  simply  different,  but  are  even 


TRAIXIXG    OF   THE   TEACHER  59 

somewhat  antagonistic.  If  the  teacher  can  do  good 
investigation  under  these  conditions,  it  is  well;  but  very 
few  can,  and  the  effort  to  do  it  injures  the  work  and  the 
happiness  of  many  a  teacher.  This  all  applies  to  the 
university  type  of  abstract  research,  the  kind  which  is  on 
the  forefront  of  advancing  knowledge ;  on  the  other  hand 
it  does  not  apply  to  some  other  types  of  investigation, 
which  are  closely  and  logically  connected  with  the  teach- 
ing. Of  this  kind  is  investigation  into  the  pressing  educa- 
tional problems  of  the  science,  a  field  as  difficult  and 
serviceable  as  anything  which  the  abstract  phases  of  the 
science  have  to  offer  the  teacher.  Our  science  courses 
are  still  very  imperfectly  adapted  to  their  constituencies, 
and  we  need  a  study  of  the  reasons  and  remedies  there- 
for.  We  have  great  need  for  a  discovery  of  better  ways 
of  presenting  and  demonstrating  important  matters,  for 
more  effective  and  simpler  experiments,  for  more  illus- 
trative methods  and  materials.  Again,  the  extreme 
specialization  of  modem  science,  and  the  consequent 
inaccessibility  of  most  of  its  new  results  to  general  users 
of  knowledge,  makes  vastly  valuable  the  preparation 
and  publication  of  such  expositions  of  important  botani- 
cal subjects  as  combine  literary  excellence,  pedagogi- 
cal force,  and  scientific  accuracy;  and  the  teacher  who 
does  this  work  well  comes  very  close  to  the  investigator. 
The  community  needs  not  only  the  discoverers  of  new 
knowledge,  whose    best    environment  is   the    university, 


6o  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

but  also  the  interpreters  of  knowledge,  whose  natural  en- 
vironment is  the  college.  Again,  there  is  a  great  field 
for  original  study  in  the  investigation  of  local  floras  from 
the  natural  history  standpoint.  The  construction  of  a 
local  flora  in  which  the  plants  are  not  simply  listed  but 
also  described  ecologically,  while  the  whole  subject  is  pre- 
sented in  attractive  literary  form,  would  not  only  realize 
for  the  teacher  the  real  value  of  abstract  investigation,  but 
it  would  constitute  a  work  of  marked  scientific  value,  while 
fitting  perfectly  with  the  work  of  teaching. 

Another  great  advantage  of  investigation  by  the  teacher 
is  this,  that  it  permits  him  to  teach  by  example,  which  here, 
as  elsewhere,  is  better  than  precept.  He  should,  of  course, 
keep  his  students  in  touch  with  his  work,  and  allow  them 
the  benefit  of  seeing  him  like  themselves  ever  striving  to 
learn  and  advance.  Not  only  does  such  study  add  greatly 
to  the  teacher's  influence  and  power,  but  it  adds  intensely 
to  the  interest  of  his  life  and  profession.  The  perennial 
freshness  which  accompanies  constant  progress  goes  far  to 
counterbalance  that  monotony  of  yearly  repetition  which 
is  the  greatest  drawback  to  the  life  of  the  teacher. 

But,  after  all,  investigation  is  subsidiary  in  the  work  of 
any  teacher.  It  is  the  spirit  of  investigation  which  is  im- 
portant rather  than  the  results,  which  indeed  can  be  won 
much  more  quickly  and  easily  by  the  experts  trained  and 
devoted  to  that  work  in  the  universities.  There  are  many 
successful  teachers  who  do  none  of  it,  and  many  others  who 


TRAINING  OF  THE  TEACHER  6l 

would  find  their  happiness  and  their  usefulness  alike  aug- 
mented if  they  were  to  abandon  the  attempt  to  combine 
the  two.  I  make  this  statement  with  some  emphasis,  be- 
cause at  the  present  time  the  universities  are  giving  to 
investigation  a  prominence  which,  wholly  correct  for  those 
who  are  to  remain  in  university  work,  is  inappropriate  or 
even  injurious  to  the  work  of  those  who  engage  in  college 
or  high  school  teaching.^ 

A  thorough  botanical  education  stands  so  far  above 
all  other  needs  for  good  botanical  teaching  that  any  con- 
sideration of  the  cultivation  of  special  qualities  seems 
hardly  to  belong  in  the  same  discussion.  There  are,  how- 
ever, qualities  which  may  be  cultivated  to  great  profit, 
and  these  it  will  be  worth  while  to  consider  in  brief. 

First,  what  are  the  personal  characteristics  of  the  good 
teacher?  He  is,  for  his  part,  a  liberal  but  firm  leader, 
finding  pleasure  in  the  guidance  of  young  people  to  more 
spacious  realms  of  power  and  knowledge,  though  he  can 
also  serve  his  turn  as  a  driver  when  that  may  be  needful. 
He  has  in  him  much  of  the  spirit  of  the  missionary,  though 
he  is  better  without  that  of  the  martyr.  He  is  to  his  students 
a  comprehending  and  sympathetic  friend,  ever  trying  to 
project  his  understanding  into  their  state  of  knowledge  and 
point  of  view,  while,  like  the  wise  physician,  he  makes  diag- 

*  The  reader  who  may  be  interested  in  a  fuller  discussion  of  this,  to- 
gether with  other  important  matters  treated  in  the  present  chapter,  will 
find  it,  approached  from  a  somewhat  different  point  of  view,  in  a  Presi- 
dential address  of  mine  published  in  Science,  31,  lyio,  321. 


62  THE   TEACHING   BOTAXIST 

nosis  of  each  individual  case  and  fits  to  it  the  suitable  treat- 
ment. He  rates  a  knowledge  of  his  students  as  of  worth 
as  great  as  a  knowledge  of  his  subject,  and  he  remembers 
that  this  subject  has  no  value  as  an  end  in  itself,  but  only 
in  so  far  as  it  contributes  to  the  happiness  and  welfare  of 
humanity.  He  is  a  genial  though  uncompromising  critic, 
awarding  praise  where  meet,  and  blame  without  bitterness 
when  he  must,  making  all  use  that  nature  allows  him  of 
humor,  but  resorting  to  sarcasm  only  in  extremities.  He 
teaches  much  through  example,  and  seeks  to  illustrate  the 
charm  of  doing  as  well  as  of  knowing.  He  utilizes,  and 
turns  to  profit,  the  good  natural  instincts  and  particular 
talents  of  his  students,  —  their  pleasure  in  competition, 
their  ambition  to  excel,  their  better  emotional  moods,  and 
their  artistic  abilities,  while  with  diplomatic  unobtrusive- 
ness  he  makes  use  of  all  reasonable  devices  for  arousing  in- 
terest and  holding  attention.  He  does  not  avoid  discussion 
with  his  students,  nor  fail  to  learn  from  them.  He  respects 
his  profession,  views  it  as  a  worthy  life  work,  and  leaps 
ever  to  the  defense  of  its  interests.  Finally,  he  refuses  to  be 
disheartened  by  the  spaces  which  yawn  between  his  ideals 
and  his  results,  but,  doing  the  best  that  he  can  and  tak- 
ing no  thought  for  his  failures,  he  presses  cheerfully  on, 
profiting  by  experience  and  building  for  the  future. 

Among  these  attributes  of  the  good  teacher  there  is  one 
deser\'ing  of  a  little  more  emphasis,  and  that  is  the  desire  for 
unremitting  progress.    The  teaching  botanist  should  take  a 


TRAINING   OF   THE   TEACHER  '  63 

lesson  from  his  trees,  and  admit  no  internal  limitation  of 
growth,  which  should  stop  only  when  forced  by  external 
conditions.  The  value  of  constant  progress  is  the  double 
one  of  contributing  both  to  his  professional  usefulness  and 
his  personal  happiness.  Seizing  promptly  upon  every 
educational  opportunity:  taking  quick  advantage  of  every 
new  opening:  keeping  closely  in  touch,  through  reading 
new  books  and  the  journals,  with  botanical  progress :  carry- 
ing on  his  own  chosen  line  of  investigation :  attending 
botanical  conventions:  visiting,  as  opportunity  permits, 
other  botanical  institutions:  making  personal  acquaintance 
with  fellow-craftsmen  and  with  the  leaders  in  botanical  edu- 
cation :  minding  his  own  affairs  and  leaving  the  reform  of 
his  neighbors'  to  them:  observing  closely,  judging  indepen- 
dently, acting  confidently:  ever  patient,  persistent,  un- 
hurried :  these  are  the  constituents  of  progress.  In  truth 
it  is  much  to  expect,  and  it  means  hard  labor  for  life;  but  , 
it  is  well  worth  while.  "Behind  every  success  is  a  cross," 
said  a  preacher,  and  he  was  right. 

From  the  characteristics  of  the  teacher  we  turn  to  some 
of  the  attributes  of  his  teaching.  Of  course  he  seeks  above 
all  to  give  training  in  the  scientific  method  of  thought  and 
work,  —  in  observation,  comparison,  and  experiment,  and  in 
skilled  cooperation  of  mind,  eye,  and  hand.  He  will  never 
allow  any  temptation  to  swerve  him  from  the  preservation  of 
the  scientific  quality  of  his  teaching.  He  will  seek  also 
to  train  his  students   in  self-reliance,  so    that    they  shall 


64  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

always  prefer  knowledge  acquired  through  their  own 
faculties  to  that  derived  from  any  other  source :  in  admira- 
tion for  results  accurately  and  logically  grounded,  with  dis- 
trust and  dislike  for  the  opposite  sorts :  in  faith  in  causa- 
tion, and  in  the  conservation  of  energy  and  matter:  in  belief 
in  the  supremacy  of  reason  over  superstition :  in  freedom 
from  deception  by  phrases,  no  matter  how  high-sounding: 
in  objectivity  of  judgment  as  against  anthropomorphism : 
in  intellectual  honesty,  not  only  with  others,  which  is  easy, 
but  with  one's  self,  which  is  hard:  in  industry,  which 
finds  pleasure  in  useful  work  and  does  not  even  shrink 
from  needed  drudgery;  and  he  does  it  all  in  a  way  to 
preserve  the  natural  qualities  of  spirited  and  wholesome 
young  people. 

While  the  good  teacher  will  have  at  command,  and  ha- 
bitually use,  the  approved  educational  methods  for  attain- 
ing his  ends,  he  should  hold  himself  free  at  any  moment 
to  abandon  or  contravene  them  when  he  can  teach  better 
thereby.  Pedagogical  methods  in  any  case  are  but  relative, 
those  good  at  one  time  and  place  being  not  so  at  others; 
and  there  may  even  result  a  certain  relief  to  all  parties  con- 
cerned through  an  occasional  break  in  the  monotony  of 
good  methods  by  a  resort  to  a  bad  one.  Methods  very  bad 
for  constant  use  may  be  very  good  for  an  occasional  emer- 
gency. Besides,  human  nature  is  imperfect  and  at  times 
it  may  be  wise  to  meet  it  with  weapons  of  its  own  kind.  At 
all  events  it  is  in  such  ready  adaptability  to  emergencies, 


TRAINING   OF   THE   TEACHER  6$ 

in  the  power  to  use  the  best  method  for  the  moment  regard- 
less of  the  usual  rules  of  the  case,  that  great  generalship 
consists;  and  the  teacher  is  a  general.  Nor  even  is  logic 
always  a  safe  guide,  though  it  usually  is;  for  there  is  many 
a  problem  of  this  life  unsolvable  by  the  subtleties  of  logic 
which  is  readily  met  by  robust  common  sense. 

There  is  another  attribute  of  good  teaching  which  can- 
not receive  too  much  emphasis,  and  that  is  the  humanistic 
spirit.  Every  young  teacher  should  be  taught,  and  should 
remember,  that  success  in  science-teaching,  as  in  so  many 
other  vocations,  is  almost  in  direct  proportion  to  one's 
power  to  influence  people.  Science  is  primarily  a  matter 
of  the  reason,  but  young  people  are  not  primarily  reasoners ; 
the  teacher  will,  therefore,  do  well  not  to  trust  to  the  merits 
of  his  subject  for  success,  but  will  give  careful  atten- 
tion to  those  qualities  which  will  increase  his  hold  upon 
young  people.  He  should  cultivate  in  himself  the  sym- 
pathetic qualities,  involving  interest  in  their  pursuits:  the 
diplomatic  qualities,  involving  the  utilization  for  good 
purposes  of  the  peculiarities  of  human  nature  in  those  he 
has  to  deal  with :  and  the  perfecting  qualities,  involving  at- 
tention to  the  amenities  and  even  the  graces  of  life.  He 
should  not  permit  any  weakening  of  the  scientific  quality 
of  his  teaching,  but  should  aim  to  present  science  to  his  stu- 
dents in  a  way  which  conforms  to  their  natures. .  He  should 
wield  the  iron  hand  of  the  scientific  method,  but  should  keep 
it  carefully  gloved  in  the  soft  velvet  of  gentle  human  conduct. 


66  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Just  here  we  may  appropriately  consider  a  matter  which 
well  illustrates  this  subject,  and  at  the  same  time  is  very 
important  in  itself.  Young  people,  for  the  most  part,  have 
in  them  a  considerable  measure  of  what  may  be  called  a 
perfecting  principle,  leading  them  upon  the  whole  to  respect 
and  like  those  things  which  are  good  and  clean  and  dignified, 
—  a  feeling  which  shows  itself  in  their  preference  for  good 
company,  good  clothes,  and  good  manners.  Now  untidi- 
ness, dirtiness,  boorishness,  carelessness,  whether  showing 
themselves  in  the  person  or  manner  of  the  teacher,  or  in  the 
condition  of  his  laboratory,  are  a  direct  affront  to  this 
feeling,  and  always  prevent  in  the  student  a  full  respect  for 
the  one  and  an  inclination  for  work  carried  on  in  the  other. 
I  have  sometimes  fancied  that  the  alluring  character  of 
scientific  work  leads  science  teachers  as  a  whole  to  some 
neglect  of  the  external  formalities  and  amenities  more  fully 
practiced  by  their  colleagues  of  other  subjects;  or  perhaps 
the  case  may  fairly  be  put  thus,  that  the  very  nature  of  the 
subject-matter  and  methods  of  the  humanities  predisposes 
their  teachers  to  contact  with  people  and  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  social  qualities,  while  the  subject-matter  and  method 
of  science  predispose  one  to  some  personal  isolation. 
Humanity  is,  from  the  nature  of  the  subject,  a  natural 
practice  ground  for  teachers  of  the  humanities,  but  not 
for  teachers  of  the  sciences.  However  that  may  be,  of  this 
I  am  sure,  that  we  science  teachers  keep  our  laboratories  in 
a  far  less  attractive  condition  than  other  teachers  keep 


TRAINING    OF   THE   TEACHER  67 

their  class  rooms  and  libraries,  while  many  scientific 
laboratories  are  simply  disgracefully  dirty.  Of  course  the 
conditions  of  the  case  make  it  harder  to  keep  laboratories 
attractive,  but  that  is  simply  another  of  the  extra  burdens 
the  teacher  of  science  has  to  carry.  I  am  of  opinion  that 
scientific  laboratories,  and  especially  those  in  which  young 
people  make  their  first  acquaintance  with  scientific  matters, 
should  be  kept,  simply  for  pedagogical  reasons  if  for 
no  other,  in  the  perfection  of  neatness.  More  than  this, 
I  think,  for  the  same  reason,  a  laboratory  should  be  made  in 
other  ways  as  positively  attractive  to  the  eye  and  person  as 
possible,  all  of  its  construction  and  furniture  being  simple, 
massive,  artistic,  and  all  of  its  objects  spaciously  placed 
and  suitably  environed.  These  things  are  not  only  de- 
sirable for  the  good  personal  impression  they  make  upon 
the  students,  but  are  also  appropriate  because  illustrative 
of  scientific  method  and  work  at  their  best. 

This  mention  of  simplicity  suggests  another  phase 
thereof  so  important  as  to  rank  as  an  educational  method, 
and  that  is  a  reduction  in  number  of  subjects  with  occa- 
sional concentration  upon  doing  some  things  the  best  that  one 
can.  In  all  our  education  we  are  doing  too  many  things, 
being  still  in  the  accumulation  stage  of  progress  where  the 
effort  is  made  for  completeness.  We  need  to  pass  to  the 
selection  stage  in  which  fewer  things  are  taught,  but  those 
given  a  better  attention.  Because  of  the  prevalent  mode  of 
education,  our  students  can  carry  off  many  things  with  a 


68  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

dash,  but  they  show  up  very  badly  when  set  to  do  something 
the  best  it  can  be  done.  The  most  of  them,  in  fact,  do  not 
know  what  it  means  to  do  a  thing  thoroughly  well,  their 
whole  early  experience  having  inculcated  the  standard  of 
doing  things  just  well  enough  to  pass.  It  is  true  that  the 
conditions  of  modern  life  make  it  needful  for  us  all  to 
perform  most  of  our  duties  just  well  enough  to  pass,  but 
we  ought  not  to  neglect  the  power  to  turn  at  will  to  some 
work  and  do  it  our  maximum  best.  Moreover,  and  here  is 
a  point  I  offer  my  fellow-teachers  as  an  original  discovery, 
although  they  may  have  known  it  all  the  time,  students 
really  like  to  be  made  to  work  in  this  spirit,  perhaps  as  a 
phase  of  the  perfecting  principle  of  which  I  have  earlier 
spoken.  They  do  not  like  the  process  at  first,  but  their 
satisfaction  in  the  obvious  worth  of  the  results,  and  espe- 
cially their  pleasure  in  the  exercise  of  a  power  they  did  not 
know  they  possessed,  makes  them  in  time  like  the  process 
itself. 

In  this  same  connection  I  would  mention  the  cultivation 
of  interest.  One  cannot  in  science,  any  more  than  else- 
where in  education,  select  the  interesting  parts  and  ignore 
the  others;  but  we  can  make  the  interesting  parts  stand 
out  to  their  best  advantage,  and  can  give  some  tinge  of  in- 
terest to  subjects  which  may  even  seem  to  lack  it.  The 
good  teacher  should  have  something  of  the  same  instinct 
for  scientific  interest  that  the  good  reporter  has  for  news,  — 
a  trained  knowledge  of  what  matters  will  interest  people 


TRAINING   OF   THE   TEACHER  69 

and  how  best  to  present  them,  ahhough  I  am  very  far  from 
recommending  that  the  teacher  go  to  such  extremes  as  the 
reporter.  Interest  should  be  cultivated  for  its  worth  as  a 
pedagogical  method,  aside  altogether  from  its  diplomatic 
value ;  and  all  legitimate  devices  of  good  illustration,  — 
striking  artistic  efifects,  suitable  events,  and  congenial 
activity,  — should  be  used  to  this  end.  In  full  conformity 
therewith  is  the  principle  of  selection  and  individualization 
of  subjects.  The  human  capacity  for  absorption  is  lim- 
ited, and  the  power  of  attention  is  soon  dulled  by  repeti- 
tion of  like  things.  It  is  best,  therefore,  to  make  use  of  a 
few  important  things  in  spacious  and  attractive  settings, 
whether  one  be  concerned  with  specimens  in  a  museum, 
plants  in  a  garden,  or  topics  in  a  course  of  instruction.^ 

In  connection  with  interest  there  is  one  other  matter 
that  needs  mention;  and  that  is  the  use  by  the  teacher, 
for  the  cultivation  thereof,  of  the  humanistically  attractive 
phases  of  the  science,  involving  materials  from  scientific 
history  and  biography.  These  are  matters  which  need 
much  wisdom  for  their  successful  use,  and  the  young 
teacher  had  better  introduce  them  only  as  he  becomes  sure 
of  their  control.  But  as  he  feels  he  can  use  them  with 
safety,  he  can  make  them  invaluable  means  for  effective 
teaching  through  appeal  to  the  higher  feelings.      On  the 

'  Some  contributions  to  this  subject  of  the  use  of  interest  in  teaching 
are  given  by  C.  H.  Shaw  in  Science,  28,  1908,  349,  and  by  O.  W- 
Caldwell  in  School  Science  and  Mathematics,  9,  1909,  581. 


70  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

other  hand,  there  is  one  thing  which  the  teacher  ought  ever 
carefully  to  shun,  and  that  is  the  use  of  his  science  to  il- 
lustrate any  preconceived  doctrine  or  dogma.  It  is  said 
sometimes  that  a  chief  object  of  scientific  study  should  be 
the  inculcation  of  a  love  of  nature.  I  do  not  think  so, 
though  this  is  assuredly  a  desirable  by-product.  The 
object  of  scientific  study  is  the  training  of  the  scientific 
faculties  and  the  acquisition  of  a  knowledge  of  natural 
facts  and  processes,  and  many  of  the  greatest  and  most 
successful  of  scientific  men  have  had  no  love  of  nature  in 
the  sense  meant  by  the  users  of  that  phrase.  Moreover, 
any  attempt  to  use  natural  sciences  for  any  such  object 
is  sure  to  lead  into  undesirable  methods,  —  into  a  weak 
sentimentalism  which  has  blighted  much  of  nature  study, 
into  a  false  poetizing  which  has  served  as  a  cloak  for 
hazy  ideas  and  a  release  from  exacting  problems,  and 
into  that  insincere  anS  mendacious,  even  though  charm- 
ingly-presented, literature  which  has  brought  upon  itself 
the  deser^'ed  opprobrium  of  the  name  "nature-faking." 
We  are  also  sometimes  told  that  the  study  of  nature  ought 
to  illuminate  in  clearer  light  the  works  of  the  Creator;  but 
this  also,  I  think,  is  not  so.  Those  who  have  searched  nature 
most  deeply  do  not  find  therein  any  direct  evidence  of  his 
working,  and  whatever  of  the  kind  one  is  to  find  there  must 
first  be  read  into  it  beforehand.  But  the  moment  one  reads 
into  science  any  preconception  whatever,  that  moment  it. 
ceases  to  be  science.     If  any  reader  now  imagines  that  the 


TRAINING   OF   THE  TEACHER  7I 

absence  of  poetry,  sentiment,  or  religion  deprives  science 
of  the  power  to  awaken  the  loftiest  of  human  emotions,  I 
assure  him  he  is  mistaken.  The  experience  of  scientific 
men  has  shown  that  the  exercise  of  the  scientific  imagina- 
tion, especially  as  it  comes  for  the  first  time  into  contact 
with  truth  new  to  the  race,  yields  a  pleasure  as  lofty  and 
uplifting  as  any  which  literature,  music,  or  art  can  offer. 
More  than  this,  it  is,  I  believe,  the  same  in  kind.  In  all 
cases  the  pleasure  is  in  the  person,  and  is  felt  when  some 
supreme  chord  in  his  spirit  is  touched;  and  that  touch  can 
be  given  in  many  different  ways. 

Finally,  as  I  review  this  chapter,  I  think  of  certain 
minor  matters  of  which  mention  ought  to  be  made.  A 
phase  of  science  which  the  teacher  should  always  keep 
prominent  in  his  teaching  is  the  exposition  of  its  method, 
—  that  is,  the  exact  ways  in  which,  through  experiment 
and  otherwise,  scientific  results  have  been  won.^  This  is 
a  great  mystery  to  most  people,  and  a  matter  of  particu- 
lar and  broadening  interest  to  students,  to  whom,  also, 
the  charm  that  there  is  in  scientific  discovery  should  be 
illustrated  when  possible.  Again,  in  my  emphasis  upon 
making  all  work  genuinely  scientific  in  spirit,  I  do  not 
mean  to  imply  that  young  students  should  be  obliged  to 
study   advanced  technical   matters,   or  to   study   simple 

'  Upon  the  value  of  the  teaching  of  the  method  of  science,  there  is  an 
admirable  address  by  Professor  John  Dewey  in  Science,  31,  1910,  121. 
I  am  of  opinion,  however,  that  tha  value  of  fact  matter  in  science  courses 
is  somewhat  underrated  in  his  argument. 


72  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

matters  in  technical  ways,  but  merely  that  all  scientific 
teaching  should  be  scientific  in  spirit,  no  matter  what  its 
grade;  for  the  scientific  spirit  applies  just  as  well  to 
primary  as  to  university  work.  In  cultivating  interest, 
also,  the  teacher  should  be  careful  not  to  sacrifice  this 
scientific  quality.  His  problem  in  this  matter  is  not  that 
of  giving  an  adventitious  interest  to  the  science,  but  rather 
of  exhibiting  in  its  best  light  the  interest  that  the  science 
really  contains,  and  all  students  who  cannot  be  attracted 
by  a  combination  of  such  interest  with  real  scientific 
quality  should  be  allowed  to  go.  Furthermore,  while 
scientific  fact  knowledge,  won  through  scientific  methods 
of  work,  should  form  the  skeleton  of  the  teaching,  cer- 
tainly the  teacher  should  not  stop  there;  on  the  contrary 
he  should  try,  from  this  accurate  training  as  a  basis,  to 
lead  the  students  into  the  broadest  and  most  attractive 
generalizations  and  conceptions  which  their  age  permits. 
The  former  is  the  particular  province  of  the  laboratory, 
and  the  latter  of  the  conferences  or  equivalent  exercises 
in  which  teacher  and  students  can  roam  together  far  afield 
in  imagination.  The  reader  will  also  observe  that  I  lay 
much  stress  upon  form,  though  never,  I  hope,  to  the  det- 
riment of  eflficiency.  I  do  not  think -that  the  gaining  of 
results  is  everything  in  life,  and  I  conceive  that  success 
with  form  is  better  than  success  without  it.  Some  em- 
phasis upon  the  way  things  are  done  contributes  to  the 
better  elements  in  life,  and  to  a  higher  civilization. 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING  73 


IV.   ON   THE   METHODS   AND    MARKS   OF 
GOOD  BOTANICAL  TEACHING 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  practical  procedure  of 
botanical  teaching  in  its  three  cardinal  phases  of  labora- 
tory, class  room,  and  field  work. 

As  to  the  laboratory  work,  many  teachers  have  trouble  to 
secure  from  the  authorities  a  sufficiency  of  time  in  the 
schedule;  and  in  this  connection  they  are  often  met  with 
the  inquiry  why  much,  or  most,  scientific  knowledge  can- 
not be  acquired,  like  other  subjects,  from  the  many  existent 
good  books.  This  objection  is  very  readily  answered  by 
simply  asking  the  querist  in  turn,  why  any  person  should 
go  abroad  for  the  benefits  of  foreign  travel  when  so  many 
well-written  and  beautifully  illustrated  books  exist  in  de- 
scription of  foreign  lands,  and  much  trouble  and  expense 
could  be  spared  if  one  would  simply  read  these  beside 
his  own  hearth.  The  parallelism  is  really  very  close,  and 
the  benefit  of  personal  contact  with  the  foreign  places  or 
scientific  objects  respectively,  as  contributing  to  a  genuine 
and  more  nearly  objective  acquaintance  therewith,  is 
practically  identical  in  the  two  cases. 

The  best  length  for  laboratory  periods  in  biological 
work  for  general  students  has  been  found  by  experience 
to  be  about  two  hours,  that  is,  two  of  the  usual  schedule 
periods.     Students  do  not  become  weary   in   that  time, 


74  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

and  shorter  periods  are  uneconomical  on  account  of  the 
time  lost  in  starting  the  work  and  putting  things  away 
at  its  completion.  One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  of 
teachers  in  the  high  schools  is  to  secure  these  double  peri- 
ods ;  but  they  are  indispensable  for  really  good  work,  and 
the  teacher  should  persist  until  he  gets  them.  Their 
status  in  the  counting  of  hours  is  commonly  this,  —  that 
each  double  period  counts  the  same  as  a  single  period  with 
its  usual  outside  preparation.  The  reader  will  find  that 
this  is  the  arrangement  recommended  in  both  of  the  stand- 
ard courses  printed  in  the  Appendix  to  this  book. 

The  number  of  students  in  one  laboratory  division  should 
not  exceed,  at  the  most,  twenty-five  to  one  teacher,  and  at 
times  it  is  difficult  to  teach  even  that  number  with  efficiency. 

The  actual  laboratory  work  is  best  managed,  as  most, 
teachers  appear  to  agree,  on  the  practicum  plan;  that  is, 
the  students  are  all  working  together  upon  the  same 
problems,  and  the  teacher,  after  suitable  explanations  to 
the  class  upon  starting  the  work,  goes  about  among  the 
students,  giving  individual  encouragement  or  criticism. 
Then,  from  time  to  time,  as  the  progress  of  the  work  re- 
quires, he  asks  for  their  attention  while  he  makes  sugges- 
tions, explanations,  or  summaries  to  the  class  as  a  whole; 
and  he  closes  each  period  by  a  summary  of  the  work  of 
the  day.  This  plan  does  not  in  the  least  interfere  with  the 
independence  and  value  of  individual  work  by  the  students. 
Moreover,  the   efficiency  of  the  work  is  immensely  pro- 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING  75 

moted  if  outline  guides  to  the  study  of  the  particular  ma- 
terial in  hand,  on  the  general  plan  of  those  in  Part  II  of 
this  book,  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  each  student. 

In  each  new  laboratory  period  all  students  should  start 
the  new  topics  together,  uncompleted  work  of  earlier 
periods  being  made  up  in  time  outside  of  regular  hours, 
for  which,  as  well  as  for  extra  voluntary  work,  the  labora- 
tory should  always  be  open.  The  amount  of  work  laid  out 
for  each  period  may  best  be  adjusted  to  rather  above  the 
average  student ;  and  more  exact  and  detailed  work  may  be 
expected  from  the  best  members,  while  the  poorer  must  be 
permitted  to  do  it  much  less  completely  and  accurately. 

In  the  matter  of  order,  etc.,  in  the  laboratory,  much 
must  depend  upon  local  conditions,  but  certainly  a  reason- 
able liberty  of  conduct  is  very  conducive  to  natural 
methods  of  working.  Students  should,  of  course,  be  ex- 
pected to  keep  their  own  places  and  instruments  in  good 
order,  and  to  take  a  corporate  pride  in  the  appearance 
of  the  laboratory  as  a  whole.  They  should  learn  to  put 
away  every  tool  after  using,  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
very  act  of  using.  They  should  be  encouraged  to  work 
in  physical  comfort  and  with  deliberation,  and  to  be 
exact  and  neat  in  all  their  work,  doing  it  always  well, 
and,  at  certain  times  or  with  selected  topics,  the  best  that 
they  can.  But  of  course  even  order  and  neatness  can 
be  carried  too  far;  and  there  is,  as  in  other  things,  a  cer- 
tain optimum  of  these   qualities   that  should  be  sought 


76  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

for  the  laboratory  rather  than  the  maximum,  which  de- 
mands an  undue  and  uneconomical  expenditure  of  labor. 

This  principle  of  the  optimum  rather  than  the  maxi- 
mum, as  a  working  guide,  is  indeed  of  wider  application 
than  this.  It  is  a  fact  in  education,  as  in  physiological 
and  economic  phenomena,  that  the  return  for  labor  ex- 
pended increases  up  to  a  certain  point,  beyond  which  any 
further  advance  is  made  at  a  disproportionately  great 
cost.  This,  of  course,  is  the  well-known  law  of  diminish- 
ing return  from  land.  It  is  this  best,  or  optimum,  point 
which  the  teacher  should  in  general  seek;  and  he  should 
not,  as  a  rule,  compel  his  students  to  follow  refinements  too 
far.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  in  the  face  of 
competition  in  the  world  outside  it  is  the  maximum  that 
most  men  are  forced  to,  while  this  is  the  logical  end  in 
investigation,  art,  music,  and  one's  specialty,  whatever 
it  may  be.  WTiile,  therefore,  the  teacher  should  be  con- 
tent with  the  optimum  as  a  general  rule,  there  are  times 
when  it  is  best  to  encourage  individuals  to  the  attain- 
ment of  their  maximum,  their  very  best  possible. 

In  the  management  of  the  laboratory,  I  think  the 
teacher  should  take  care  not  to  expend  more  than  a  fair 
share  of  attention  on  the  duller  students.  Education 
does  not  undertake  to  make  a  new  man,  but  only  to 
make  the  best  of  the  man  there  is ;  and  the  good  student 
is  as  entitled  to  have  the  best  made  of  him  as  is  the  poor 
one.     School  and  college  are  after  all  but  a  preparation 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING  77 

for  the  world  outside,  and  the  world  does  not  devote 
more  attention  to  its  dull  than  to  its  bright  members.  I 
do  not  mean  that  the  dull  students  are  to  be  neglected  by 
the  teacher,  but  simply  that  they  are  to  receive  only  their 
fair  proportion  of  attention;  and  I  hold  that  it  is  just  as 
much  the  teacher's  duty  to  take  time  to  lead  on  the  best 
pupils  into  still  higher  achievement  as  to  urge  the  duller 
to  greater  efforts.  It  is  not,  however,  the  dull  students 
who  most  try  and  discourage  the  teacher,  but  those  in- 
different ones  who  are  in  college  or  high  school  in  some 
number  nowadays,  not  from  liking  or  ambition  but  simply 
for  enjoyment  or  fashion.  Such  students  tend  to  view 
their  studies  as  a  necessary  evil  to  be  disposed  of  in  the 
easiest  way  possible,  and  at  times  take  no  great  pains  to 
conceal  their  contempt  for  it  all.  I  think  the  teacher's 
first  duty  in  such  cases  is  to  try  to  save  such  material  for 
scholarship  by  endeavoring  to  awaken  some  intellectual 
interest.  Very  commonly  this  can  be  done,  for  such 
students  are  not  inferior  to  others  in  ability;  but  if,  after 
reasonable  effort,  he  fails,  I  think  his  whole  duty  is  to  see 
that  the  student  does  enough  work  to  justify  the  institu- 
tion's requirements,  while  beyond  this  he  should  waste  no 
more  effort  or  regrets  upon  him. 

In  the  laboratory  most  things  should  be  done,  as  a  rule, 
in  the  investigation  spirit.  The  student  should  find  most 
of  his  work  placed  before  him  in  the  form  of  definite 
problems    so    arranged    that    their    solution    comes    just 


78  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

within  reach  of  his  own  powers.  In  general,  nothing 
should  be  told  a  student  that  he  can  find  out  for  himself, 
though  with  beginners,  where  everything  is  new  and  un- 
familiar, this  principle  must  be  used  with  great  caution. 
Indeed,  at  the  opening  of  the  course,  the  teacher  should 
make  much  use  of  the  didactic  or  demonstration  methods 
already  familiar  to  his  students,  even  to  the  extent  of  hav- 
ing them  at  first  simply  confirm  information  given  them 
or  imitate  methods  shown  them;  and  they  should  be 
brought  only  gradually  into  the  full  use  of  the  independ- 
ent or  investigation  methods.  There  are  many  occa- 
sions on  which  it  is  best  to  tell  minor  things  outright  to 
the  student  in  order  to  help  him  to  the  solution  of  more 
important  questions;  and  there  are  other  occasions  when 
leaving  him  unaided  would  result  in  discouragement  fol- 
lowed by  a  distaste  for  the  subject.  The  best  procedure 
in  such  cases  is  to  ask  a  question,  or  give  a  suggestion,  in 
such  a  way  as  to  allow  the  student  the  pleasure  of  finally 
solving  the  difficulty  for  himself.  It  is  in  such  points  as 
this  that  sympathy  and  judgment,  and  knowledge  of  the 
minds  of  young  people,  count  for  so  much. 

The  teacher  will,  of  course,  constantly  use  such 
common  and  sound  teaching  devices  as  proceeding  from 
the  known  to  the  unknown,  —  always  recalling  to  a  stu- 
dent his  previous  knowledge  as  a  basis  for  building  new 
knowledge  upon.  Again,  he  should  remember  to  make 
effort    essential    to    success,    and    should    keep    the    re- 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING 


79 


sponsibility  for  learning  very    largely   upon    the   student. 
For  these  reasons  the  student  should  not  receive  aid  and 
admonition  at  every  step  of  his  progress,  but  should  be 
compelled  to  complete  certain  topics  the  best  that  he  can 
before  they  are  shown   to   the    teacher  for  approval  or 
criticism.      Otherwise    the    teacher    is    soon    doing    the 
mental,  and  the  student  merely   the  mechanical,  part  of 
the  course.     But  this  principle,  like  all  others  in  teaching, 
should  be  open  to   violation   when   good   generalship  de- 
mands.    It  is  true   the    student  will   in   this  way   make 
many  mistakes  and  less  apparent   progress  than   on  the 
alternative  plan;    but  in  this  world  there  is  nothing  from 
which  we  learn  so  much  as  from  our  mistakes,  and  it  is 
by  constant  struggling  and  effort  that  the  mental  fiber  is 
strengthened.     Again,  it  is  important  not  to  supply  infor- 
mation,   methods,    terms,    or    tools    until   students  have 
been  made  to  feel  a  need  for  them.     Such    things  then 
have  a  meaning,  and  make  an  impression  upon  the  memory, 
far  greater  then  when  supplied  without  this  connection. 
Of   course  all  laboratory  work  is  to  be  carefully  ex- 
amined after  it  is  completed  by  the  student,  and  should  be 
marked  when  approved.     In  my  own  experience  I  have 
found  the  following  a  satisfactory  system,  —  to   place  a 
small  oblique  mark  at  the  lower  outer  comer  of  each  page 
when  it  has  been  examined,  which  is  made  a  cross  when 
the  page  is  finally  satisfactory;  and  the  responsibility  for 
having  all  their  pages  completed,  examined,  and  checked 


8o  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

is  thrown  upon  the  students.  This  examination  of  the 
work  is  best  made  with  the  student,  not  apart  from  him. 
A  special  phase  of  laboratory  work  needing  some  par- 
ticular comment  is  experimentation  in  Plant  Physiology, 
which  has  become  an  integral  and  invariable  constituent 
of  every  modem  general  course.  A  great  amount  of 
experimentation  upon  many  and  diverse  topics  is  now 
quite  practicable  even  in  elementary  courses,  but  reason 
and  experience  both  unite  to  approve  a  limited  amount 
which  should  deal  with  the  most  fundamental  topics  and 
be  carried  out  in  the  most  scientific  spirit.  This  principle 
is  recognized  in  the  two  important  standard  courses 
printed  in  the  Appendix  to  this  book,  where  the  experi- 
ments are  limited  to  about  fifteen.  At  first  sight  it  may 
seem  impracticable  to  teach  experimental  Plant  Physi- 
ology at  all  to  large  classes,  and  so  it  is  on  the  plan  of 
purely  individual  work.  But  there  is  a  method  of  teach- 
ing by  demonstration,  supplemented  by  individual  work, 
which  is  well-nigh  as  efficient  as  individual  work,  and  at 
the  same  time  wholly  practicable.  As  I  have  developed 
it  in  use,  it  is  this:  With  the  entire  class  assembled,  and 
only  the  bare  materials  for  the  experiment  upon  the  table, 
I  try  first  to  make  sure  that  the  importance  of  the  problem 
to  be  studied,  and  its  connection  with  their  laboratory 
work,  is  made  clear  to  the  students;  in  fact,  I  try  to  make 
the  experiment  seem  not  only  a  logical  but  a  necessary 
step  in  the  subject.     Then  I  set  up  the  experiment  from 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING  8l 

the  beginning,  explaining  the  reason  for  each  step  and  for 
the  use  of  each  piece  of  apparatus,  each  reagent,  and  the 
like.  The  students  follow,  asking  what  questions  they 
wish  and  making  full  notes.  The  completed  arrangement 
is  then  placed  under  the  requisite  conditions  until  the 
result  is  ready,  when  it  is  brought  a  second  time  before 
the  class;  the  whole  matter  is  then  briefly  reviewed  and 
the  result  is  exhibited  or  the  test  applied  (not  without  atten- 
tion to  details  of  striking  effect) ,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  of 
course  the  results  are  fully  discussed.  The  experiment  is 
then  placed  in  the  laboratory,  and  each  student  has  to 
study  it  minutely,  and  make  records  (descriptions  and 
■drawings)  of  the  appliances  and  results  as  if  the  experi- 
ment were  his  own.  Then,  by  aid  of  an  outline  which  sug- 
gests but  does  not  state  the  leading  matters  in  the  topic,  they 
are  expected  to  prepare  a  synoptical  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject, incorporating  in  its  suitable  place  their  account  of  the 
experiment.  This,  of  course,  is  examined  and  criticised 
like  other  parts  of  the  work.  In  the  outlines  in  Part  II,  I 
incorporate  the  experiments  for  use  in  this  way,  with 
sundry  suggestions  as  to  profitable  procedure  with  each. 
Experimentation  in  Plant  Physiology  cannot  attain  to 
its  full  educational  value  unless  its  scientific  or  logical 
quality  is  adequately  safeguarded.  A  chief  requisite 
for  this  logic  lies  in  control  experimenting,  which  consists 
in  this:  that  whenever  a  plant  is  to  be  exposed  to  a  cer- 
tain change  of  condition,  such  as  a  special  gas  supply, 


82  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

or  special  color  of  light,  involving  a  considerable  amount 
of  experimental  machinery  or  apparatus,  then  there  should 
be  a  duplicate  experiment  alongside,  alike  in  every  detail 
of  the  experimental  machinery  and  method,  except  that 
there  is  no  change  in  the  particular  condition  in  question. 
In  this  way,  and  this  way  only,  can  one  be  sure  that  the 
result  obtained  is  due  to  the  change  of  the  principal  condi- 
tion and  not  to  some  peculiarity  of  the  experimental 
machinery  or  method.  In  the  descriptions  of  experiments 
in  Part  II  of  this  book  I  have  often  recommended  the 
teacher  to  go  to  considerable  trouble  to  secure  controls  in 
the  experiments;  but  I  can  assure  him,  from  a  considerable 
experience,  that  it  is  well  worth  while.  For  the  respect, 
appreciation,  and  attention  given  by  the  best  students 
to  experiments  of  this  type,  is  very  striking  in  comparison 
with  their  attitude  towards  less  perfect  kinds.  And  be- 
sides, the  control  kind  is  the  right  kind,  the  sort  really 
representative  of  scientific  work.  Many  of  the  fallacious 
physiological  experiments  recommended  in  current  books, 
as  I  point  out  in  the  later  chapter  on  errors,  owe  their 
fallacy  to  a  neglect  of  control  experimenting.  Another 
element  in  logical  experimenting  is  a  search  for  sources  of 
error,  to  which  the  teacher  should  give  some  attention, 
even  in  this  course.  It  is  an  attractive  and  important 
matter  into  which  I  cannot  take  space  to  enter  here,  but 
the  interested  reader  will  find  it  somewhat  fully  discussed 
in  the  second  chapter  of  my  work  on  Plant  Physiology. 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING  83 

Another  feature  of  good  scientific  method  is  the  expression, 
wherever  practicable,  of  the  results  of  physiological  study, 
not  simply  in  general  statements,  but  in  figures.  It  is,  of 
course,  agreed  that  it  is  qualitative  and  not  quantitative 
results  which  are  mainly  sought  in  a  general  course ;  never- 
theless, in  conformity  with  the  scientific  spirit  of  precision, 
every  opportunity  should  be  taken  to  express  matters  in 
quantitative  fashion,  even  though  it  is  not  appropriate  to 
seek  quantitative  methods  especially.  And  finally,  the  logi- 
cal spirit  requires  that  in  records  of  physiological  work  the 
experimental  results  and  the  conclusions  should  be  sharply 
distinct.  The  students  should,  therefore,  be  required  to 
write  up  their  experiments  in  such  form  that  they  express 
clearly  and  separately,  first,  the  object  of  the  experiment 
(which  is  usually  a  question  asked  of  nature,  and  asked 
in  such  a  way  as  to  call  for  a  definite  answer) :  second,  a 
description  of  the  exact  method  and  appliances  used,  with 
suitable  illustrations  of  the  latter:  third,  the  precise 
results  obtained,  in  figures  or  tabular  form,  when  appro- 
priate: and  fourth,  the  conclusions  derived  from  the  re- 
sults. In  particular  the  third  and  fourth  should  always 
be  understood  as  logically-distinct  things,  and  the  students 
should  be  made  to  see  that  the  results,  if  the  experiment 
has  been  correctly  performed,  are  facts  whose  accuracy 
cannot  be  affected  by  any  explanations,  while  conclusions 
are  matters  of  another,  and  less  important  order,  being 
personal  affairs  which  may  be  wholly  erroneous. 


84  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

At  other  places  in  this  book  I  have  mentioned  the  need 
for  investigation  directed  to  find  more  illustrative  materials 
for  laboratory  studies.  In  Plant  Physiology  this  will  take 
the  form  of  a  critical  study  of  all  the  plants  available 
to  teachers  with  a  view  to  determining  for  each  physiolog- 
ical process,  first,  what  plants  are  best  adapted  in  practice, 
either  because  of  the  large  quantities  they  yield,  or  for 
other  equivalent  practical  reason,  for  the  demonstration 
of  that  process:  second,  how  much,  quantitatively,  may 
be  expected  therefrom;  third,  what  quantities  are  yielded 
by  the  other,  though  less  useful,  available  plants:  and 
fourth,  what  special  precautions  should  be  observed  in 
order  to  make  sure  of  the  best  results.  Into  the  large  and 
attractive  field  here  open,  I  have  directed  some  of  the 
activity  of  my  own  students,  with  a  result  that  several  con- 
tributions to  this  kind  of  educational-physiological  organ- 
ization, intended  to  be  of  direct  use  to  the  teacher,  have 
already  been  published  by  them  in  the  Botanical  Gazette, 
while  others  are  to  be  expected  in  the  future.^ 

Upon  this  matter  of  the  teaching  of  Plant  Physiology 
I  may  seem  to  dwell  over  much,  but  there  is  this  reason 

^  These  papers  are  mentioned  in  the  suitable  places  in  Part  II  of  this 
book.  In  summary,  they  deal  with  Chlorophyl  Solutions  and  Spectra  (in 
the  Gazette,  40,  1905,  302),  Root  Pressures  and  Exudation  (45,  1908,  50), 
the  Numbers  and  Sizes  of  Stomata  (46,  1908,  221),  the  Demonstration  of 
Starch  Formation  in  Leaves  (48,  1909,  224),  all  by  Sophia  Eckerson; 
with  Transpiration  Quantities  (45,  1908,  254)  by  Grace  Clapp; 
and  with  Protoplasmic  Streaming  (46,  1908,  50)  by  Grace  Bushee. 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING  85 

therefor,  that  it  is  still  the  worst  taught  of  all  the  constitu- 
ents of  a  general  course,  and  one  of  the  hardest  of  the  parts 
to  teach  well.  Yet  all  authorities  now  agree  that  no  good 
course  can  be  given  without  it.  For  this  reason  and  one 
other,  viz.  that  it  is  a  specialty  of  my  own,  I  may  be 
pardoned  for  the  space  I  give  it  in  this  work. 

There  is,  finally,  one  other  element  in  the  good  teaching 
of  Plant  Physiology,  the  importance  of  which  grows  upon 
me  with  experience,  and  that  is  neatness  in  experimenting. 
I  think  every  experiment  should  be  performed  with  effi- 
cient apparatus,  carefully  prepared  and  preserv^ed  for 
its  special  work,  used  in  a  condition  of  spotless  cleanness, 
and  set  up  with  workmanlike  mechanical  exactness,  while 
it  should  be  given  a  distinctive  place  in  the  laboratory 
where  it  can  occupy  the  center  of  its  own  little  stage, 
enmargined  with  liberal  space  and  such  a  setting  as 
contributes  to  a  pleasing  and  even  artistic  effect.  These 
features  are  of  value  for  two  reasons,  first,  for  their 
reflex  effect  upon  the  spirit  of  the  workers,  whom  they 
induce,  by  suggestion,  to  make  their  own  work  a  little 
more  similar  in  character,  and  second,  because  they  really 
reflect  the  characteristics  of  the  scientific  spirit.  It  is  in 
conformity  with  this  principle  that  I  believe  all  apparatus 
should  be  primarily  of  an  efficient  sort,  and  not  the  make- 
shift appliances  which  one  brings  together  temporarily, 
and  which  always  do  their  work  imperfectly.  The  use  of 
such  makeshift  tools  is  always  wasteful  of  time,  temper, 


86  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

and  labor,  while  the  difficulties  of  securing  good  results  by 
their  use  is  so  great  as  to  cause  a  shifting  of  the  center  of 
effort  and  interest  away  from  the  processes  of  the  plant  to 
the  working  of  an  uncertain  machine.  Besides,  and  this 
is  a  point  of  more  moment,  the  use  of  such  imperfect  tools 
tends  to  inculcate  an  erroneous  ideal  of  the  real  nature  of 
scientific  method,  whose  essence  is  precision,  logic,  and 
the  exact  quantitative  spirit.  The  improvement  of  the 
teaching  of  Plant  Physiology,  even  to  beginners,  is  bound 
up,  I  believe,  in  large  part,  with  the  provision  of  better 
appliances,  those  which  will  be  accurate,  convenient,  always 
ready  for  use,  and  even  attractive  in  appearance. 

From  procedure  in  the  laboratory  we  turn  to  that  in  the 
class  room.  Laboratory  work  alone  gives  a  disconnected, 
even  though  thorough,  knowledge  of  botanical  matters,  and 
must  be  supplemented  by  much  other  instruction  in  order 
that  it  may  be  suitably  extended  and  welded  together. 
The  laboratory  is  the  place  for  minute  and  careful  work 
and  the  gaining  of  a  real  personal  acquaintance  with  scien- 
tific facts  and  phenomena;  but  each  topic  thus  personally 
studied  forms  a  center  of  illumination  for  a  large  area 
around  it,  and  about  each  of  such  subjects  can  profitably 
be  grouped  a  considerable  amount  of  theoretical  instruction. 
This  additional  instruction  should  be  given  in  part  through 
requirement  of  the  reading  of  a  standard  text-book,  which 
should  be  thoroughly  studied,  but  in  part  through  demon- 
strations and  conferences  (which  in  college  would  take 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING  87 

the  form  of  lectures),  together  with  quizzes,  examinations, 
and  the  other  approved  devices  for  securing  that "  attention, 
repetition,  pleasure,  and  pain"  which  we  were  assured  in 
former  days  were  the  basis  of  good  learning.  These  dem- 
onstrations or  lectures  should  be  as  fully  illustrated,  broad- 
ening, suggestive,  and  interesting  as  they  can  be  made.  In 
college  work  a  profitable  proportion  of  laboratory  to  other 
instruction  has  been  found  to  consist  in  two  two-hour 
periods  of  laboratory  to  one  of  demonstration  or  recitation 
and  one  of  lecture  a  week.  In  school,  where  five  periods 
a  week  are  given  to  the  subject,  the  proportion  should  rep- 
resent at  least  two,  and  preferably  three,  double  periods, 
with  the  remainder  given  to  recitation  and  demonstration. 
The  third  important  phase  of  botanical  instruction, 
correlative  with  laboratory  and  class  room,  is  field  study 
through  suitable  excursions.  I  have  spoken  already  of 
their  educational  value  in  an  earlier  chapter,  and  need 
only  repeat  that  while  very  valuable  they  are  not  indis- 
pensable. In  most  schools  they  present  great  adminis- 
trative difficulties  because  of  insufficient  time,  distance 
from  suitable  localities,  and  the  size  of  the  classes,  not  to 
mention  the.  disciplinary  problem  introduced  by  the 
natural  exuberance  of  youth,  which  tends  to  turn  the 
excursions  into  picnics.  In  my  own  experience  I  have 
found  that  the  number  of  students  who  can  be  kept  attentive 
to  the  objects  of  the  day,  and  who,  moreover,  can  group 
themselves  near  enough  to  the  leader  to  profit  by  his 


88  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

explanations  or  exhibition  of  materials,  is  limited,  and 
does  not  exceed  ten.  More  value  is  given  to  excursions 
if  they  are  made  not  simply  observing,  but  also  collecting, 
trips,  either  for  materials  to  furnish  greenhouses  or  gardens, 
or  for  specimens  in  connection  with  herbarium-making 
upon  some  one  of  the  several  possible  plans. 


V.     ON   SCIENTIFIC,   MAINLY   BOTANICAL, 
DRAWING   AND    DESCRIPTION 

In  the  preceding  chapters  I  have  tried  to  make  plain 
the  true  aim  and  the  approved  methods  of  procedure  in 
laboratory  study.  There  is  one  phase  of  the  latter,  how- 
ever, of  such  importance  as  to  require  separate  discussion, 
namely,  the  use  of  drawing  and  description  in  recording 
the  results  of  scientific  studies. 

Exact  recording  of  the  results  of  laboratory  work  has 
several  values.  In  the .  first  place  it  is  of  great  utility 
in  general  education  for  the  training  it  gives  in  precision 
and  proportion  in  the  exposition  of  original  data.  Again, 
it  serves  to  give  definiteness  and  direction  to  the  work  of 
the  student,  and  compels  completeness  in  his  observations 
and  conclusions.  Finally,  it  has  this  invaluable  pedagogi- 
cal merit,  —  it  enables  the  teacher  to  make  sure  that  the 
student  has  actually  and  fully  worked  out  his  topics.  By 
verbal  answers  alone  a  clever  student  may  convey  the 
impression  that  he  has  seen  an  object  fully,  when  in  fact 
he  has  viewed  it  but  superficially;  but  he  cannot  make 
even  a  passable  scientific  drawing  or  written  description 
of  an  object  until  he  has  first  seen  it  accurately  and  com- 
pletely, and  realized  its  construction. 

89 


90  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

The  aim  of  the  student  in  recording  the  results  of  his 
study  upon  any  topic  should  always  be  directed  towards 
producing  a  piece  of  good  scientific  exposition,  that  is,  an 
example  of  concise,  accurate,  and  vivid  conveyance  of  his 
ideas  to  another.  In  this  he  is  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  best  scientific  models.  For  his  purpose  both  drawings 
and  descriptions  in  words  are  usually  needed,  since  each 
expresses  something  which  the  other  cannot  bring  out  so 
clearly;  but  the  two  should  supplement  and  not  duplicate 
one  another.  From  the  teacher's  point  of  view,  however, 
the  drawings  are  much  the  more  important,  since  from 
them  he  can  most  readily  keep  in  touch  with  the  student's 
progress.  Some  training  in  drawing,  therefore,  is  an  im- 
portant element  in  a  student's  scientific  education.  But 
it  is  essential  for  the  teacher  to  realize  that  scientific  draw- 
ing does  not  consist  in  the  composition  of  pictures  correct 
in  perspective  and  fine  in  finish,  but  in  the  making  of 
diagrammatic  outlines  which  convey  to  the  mind  of  the 
beholder  accurate  conceptions  of  the  real  construction  of 
the  object  represented.  A  diagram,  even  though  unrecog- 
nizable as  a  picture  of  its  object,  if  it  correctly  represents 
the  structure  when  supplemented  by  some  words  of  expla- 
nation, is  a  far  better  scientific  drawing  than  one  which 
arouses  admiration  by  its  fidelity  to  nature  as  a  picture, 
but  fails  to  express  the  actual  structure.  If  a  drawing  can 
be  at  one  and  the  same  time  an  accurate  diagram  of  the 
structure  of  an  object  and  a  picture  giving  a  true  impres- 


SCIENTIFIC    DRAWING   AND    DESCRIPTION  91 

sion  of  its  appearance,  so  much  the  better;  and  indeed 
this  is  the  ideal  in  scientific  drawing.  But  diagrammatic 
accuracy  is  its  first  quality. 

Drawing  in  the  laboratory  should  be  commenced  only 
after  observation  of  the  main  features  of  the  object  has  been 
completed,  though  the  very  act  of  drawing  will  call  atten- 
tion to  features  likely  otherwise  to  be  overlooked.  Draw- 
ings should  not  be  pieced  out  or  idealized  from  several 
specimens,  but  rather  should  be  accurate  delineations  of  a 
chosen  typical  specimen,  which  the  student  should  be 
taught  as  soon  as  possible  to  select  from  several  presented 
to  him.  In  the  very  first  lesson  he  should  be  given  a 
familiar  object,  and  told  first  to  study  and  then  to  draw  it 
without  help,  himself  selecting  the  number  and  kind  of 
views  necessary  to  illustrate  it  fully.  Many  students 
under  these  circumstances  answer  in  despair  that  they 
cannot  draw.  This  answer  is  a  sad  commentary  upon 
our  modern  system  of  education,  which  so  largely  neglects 
this  most  natural,  elemental,  and  valuable  discipline,  thus 
depriving  the  student  of  training  in  an  additional  and 
vivid  mode  of  expression.  Of  course  all  students  must  be 
required  to  try  to  draw;  and  if  perspective,  shading,  etc., 
are  at  first  discouraged,  and  correct  outlines  alone  are 
insisted  upon,  all  find  that  they  can  draw  somewhat,  and 
many  find  in  themselves  an  unsuspected  power  of  drawing 
well.  Certainly  the  artistic  talents  of  individuals  should 
receive  the  greatest  encouragement  and  stimulation,  and 


92 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


if  some  can  accurately  shade  so  as  to  make  their  diagram 
a  good  picture,  so  much  the  better.  But  at  first  the  draw- 
ings must  be,  above  everything,  clear,  accurate  diagrams  of 
the  actual  structure,  such,  e.g.,  as  Figs.  14,  16,  17,  while 
if  they  can  also  be  good  pictures,  like  Fig.  15,  it  is  just 
so  much  the  better.  To  this  end  every  line  and  spot  in 
them  should  represent  some  feature  in  the  object,  and  no 
mark  of  pencil  or  pen  should  be  allowed  to  the  equivalent 
of  which  in  the  object  the  student  cannot  point.  More- 
over, outlines  should  be  complete,  and  no  loose  ends,  nor 
hazy  joinings,  nor  dim  angles,  should  be  permitted.  Such 
imperfections  generally  correspond  to  loose,  hazy,  or  dim 
ideas,  which  it  is  one  of  the  chief  uses  of  the  drawing  to 
help  remove  and  replace  by  clear  and  sharp  conceptions. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  generalized  diagrams,  to  be 
spoken  of  later,  are  of  such  great  value.  I  have  found  that 
"rough  drawings,"  which  scarcity  of  time  may  sometimes 
seem  to  justify,  are  of  very  little  use;  while  the  impres- 
sionist kinds,  often  really  beautiful,  made  under  teachers 
untrained  in  scientific  methods,  are  little  better.  This 
matter  is  the  more  important  since,  unfortunately,  much 
of  the  drawing  done  in  the  lower  schools  in  connection 
with  nature-study  leans  too  much  towards  this  impres- 
sionistic, and  too  little  towards  the  diagrammatic  character. 
The  diagrammatic  drawing  takes  but  little  if  any  longer, 
and  is  many  times  more  valuable.  Indeed,  a  mere  "draw- 
ing" of  an  object,  i.e.  a  representation  of  its  appearance 


SCIENTIFIC    DRAWING   AND    DESCRIPTION  93 

to  the  eye,  a  reproduction  of  the  impression  the  object 
makes  upon  the  beholder,  has  httle  scientific  value  in 
connection  with  laboratory  work,  and  is  usually  not  worth 
the  time  it  takes.  Such  a  drawing  is  in  place  in  a  drawing 
class,  and  even  in  certain  phases  of  general  natural  history 
study;  but  it  reflects  not  at  all  the  clearly  cut  ideas  which 
should  characterize  the  activities  of  the  laboratory. 

The  drawing  should  include  not  only  plants  and  their 
parts,  but  also  some  mechanical  objects,  for  only  in  this 
way  can  correct  proportioning  as  well  as  correct  outlining 
be  insured.  Most  students  who  can  apparently  draw 
plants  very  well  make  very  bad  drawings  of  bottles, 
flowerpots,  or  other  such  objects  having  definite  lines  and 
angles.  This  is,  of  course,  because  plant  parts  are  mostly 
so  variable  in  form  that  a  wide  deviation  from  their  actual 
shapes  is  possible  without  detriment  to  the  apparent 
accuracy  of  the  drawings,  while  in  the  case  of  mechanical 
objects,  any  inaccuracy  of  proportioning  is  obvious  at  once. 
For  such  drawing  the  apparatus  used  in  the  experiments 
in  plant  physiology  affords  particularly  good  material; 
and  for  this  reason,  as  well  as  others,  the  teacher  should 
insist  upon  its  accurate  representation. 

Scientific  drawings,  especially  when  made  by  beginners, 
are  of  course  mostly  freehand.  Students  should  be  taught 
first  to  outline  the  features  of  the  object  faintly  in  pencil, 
next  to  modify  and  alter  this  to  closer  agreement  with  the 
original,  then  to  go  over  the  whole  with  firm,  uniform,  com- 


94 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


plete  lines,  and  finally  to  erase  the  superseded  lighter 
pencil  marks.  All  mechanical  aids  from  rulers,  com- 
passes, and  the  like  should  be  allowed  when  they  con- 
tribute to  accuracy. 

The  paper  for  the  drawings  should  be  of  a  quality 
which  will  take  both  pencil  and  ink,  and  permit  of  clear, 
sharp  outlines.  It  should  not,  on  the  one  hand,  have  a 
glossy  surface,  nor,  on  the  other,  should  it  be  rough  like 
that  used  for  their  sketches  by  artists.  An  erroneous 
impression  prevails  among  teachers  untrained  in  scientific 
methods  of  work  that  scientific  drawings  should  be 
made  with  soft  pencils  upon  rough  paper,  in  close  imitation 
of  the  methods  and  results  of  the  classes  in  sketching. 
After  trial  of  many  kinds  of  paper,  I  have  found  that  the 
sort  called  commercially  "ledger  paper"  gives  the  best 
results.  A  somewhat  hard  pencil  is  needful,  especially  for 
finishing  the  drawings,  if  ink  is  not  used,  and  the  Faber  4  H 
has  proven  in  my  experience  best  for  the  purpose.  Each 
student  should  of  course  be  provided  with  a  fine  flat  file,  or 
the  more  usual  small  sandpaper  block,  for  keeping  a  good 
point  on  the  pencil,  while  of  course  every  laboratory  is 
provided  with  some  form  of  good  mechanical  pencil 
sharpener. 

Economy  in  the  number  of  drawings  made  to  illustrate 
an  object  should  be  emphasized.  Just  so  many  views 
should  be  drawn  as  are  necessary,  when  wisely  selected, 
to  show  fully  the  structure,  and  no  more.     Thus,  for  a  seed 


SCIENTIFIC   DRAWING   AND    DESCRIPTION  95 

like  the  bean  (Figs.  14,  15),  two  drawings  are  sufficient; 
an  end  view  in  addition  would  bring  out  little  if  anything 
not  already  in  the  other  two.  One  view  of  an  object  need 
never  duplicate  features  already  shown  in  another,  though 
different  views  of  the  same  feature  are  always  desirable. 
The  extreme  aspects  of  an  object  should  be  chosen  for 
representation,  i.e.  a  face  or  edge  view  should  be  an  exact 
face  or  edge,  and  not  a  quartering  view.  Of  course,  dif- 
ferent drawings  of  the  same  object  should  be  perfectly  con- 
sistent in  size,  form,  and  structure. 

The  scale  of  the  drawing  in  comparison  with  the  original 
object  is  very  important,  and  should  always  be  expressed. 
In  good  monographs  this  is  usually  done  by  use  of  a  frac- 
tion ;  if  the  drawing  is  one  half  the  length  and  breadth  (not 
area)  of  the  original,  the  fraction  |  is  placed  beneath  the 
drawing;  if  the  drawing  is  twice  the  size  of  the  original 
object,  it  is  expressed  by  f ;  if  the  same  size,  by  \,  and  so 
forth.  The  best  general  rule  as  to  scale  is  to  make  the 
drawing  as  small  as  will  allow  all  the  features  which  it  is 
desired  to  represent  to  be  clearly  shown.  If,  however,  the 
clear  representation  of  the  smallest  features  would  make  the 
entire  outline  inconveniently  large,  it  is  better  to  make  two 
drawings,  one  of  them  showing  the  details  upon  a  larger 
scale.  It  is  well  to  give  the  students  small  pasteboard  or 
celluloid  rulers,  preferably  on  the  metric  system,  which  can 
be  kept  in  pockets  in  the  back  of  the  laboratory  books, 
ready  for  use  in  making  the  scale  of  the  drawings  correct. 


96  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

The  labeling  of  the  different  features  of  the  drawings 
with  the  appropriate  terms  or  names  should  be  carefully 
done.  The  exact  spots  to  which  the  names  apply  should 
be  shown  by  fine- ruled  dotted  lines,  as  in  Figs.  14,  16,  17. 
In  printed  books,  for  appearance's  sake,  usually  only 
single  letters  are  thus  attached  to  the  drawings,  and  the 
corresponding  names  are  given  in  an  explanation  below 
or  in  the  text.  But  in  laboratory  work  I  have  found  that 
the  extra  neatness  of  this  plan  does  not  compensate  for 
the  loss  of  time  entailed  on  the  teacher  in  looking  up  the  ex- 
planations, and  I  think  it  much  better  to  require  the  draw- 
ings to  be  labeled  with  the  names  directly,  as  shown  in 
Figs.  14,  16,  17,  where  the  whole  explanation  is  visible  at 
one  glance.  For  this  labeling  a  compact  vertical  writing, 
or  even  printing,  is  desirable,  and  should  be  cultivated 
when  wanting ;  and  a  compact  writing  is  pleasing,  too,  for 
the  notes.  When  one  set  of  words  can  be  applied  to  two 
or  more  drawings,  as  in  Figs.  14,  16,  17,  it  is  an  advantage, 
but  of  course  is  not  essential.  Where  the  views  of  an  ob- 
ject do  not  fully  explain  themselves,  they  should  also  be 
labeled  beneath  by  descriptive  words,  such  as  "face  view," 
"transverse  section,"  and  so  forth.  Different  drawings 
of  the  same  object,  unless  their  connection  is  perfectly 
obvious,  should  be  kept  in  correlation  with  one  another  by 
suitable  cross-references.  Of  course  neatness  and  pleasing 
effect  are  desirable  qualities  in  all  work,  and  some  attention 
should  be  given  to  the  details  of  placing  the  drawings  well 


SCIENTIFIC   DRAWING   AND   DESCRIPTION  97 

on  the  page,  i.e.  with  the  long  axis  upright,  an  ample 
margin,  and  plenty  of  room  between  different  drawings 
of  the  same  object  as  well  as  between  different  topics. 

In  all  of  these  matters  just  mentioned,  i.e.  completeness 
and  clearness  of  outline,  economy  in  number,  scale,  label- 
ing, pleasing  effect,  it  is  a  very  good  principle,  pedagogi- 
cally,  to  allow  the  students  at  first  to  do  the  best  they  can 
without  aid.  After  they  have  made  their  own  attempts, 
they  are  in  a  position  to  understand  and  profit  by  the  teach- 
er's hints  as  to  how  they  may  do  better.  Instruction  on 
any  points,  after  their  own  efforts  have  made  them  feel 
the  difficulties,  has  much  more  meaning  than  it  has  before 
they  have  tried  for  themselves.  It  is  important,  however, 
not  to  confuse  by  too  many  suggestions  at  once.  It  is 
much  better  to  point  out  improvements  in  but  one  or  two 
respects  at  a  time,  and  thus  to  bring  the  work  towards  a 
high  standard  gradually.  On  this  plan  the  earlier  drawings 
will  be  incomplete ;  but  they  may  subsequently  be  brought 
up  to  the  higher  grade,  or  left  as  a  record  of  progress,  not 
without  its  value.  It  is  a  marked  advantage  to  the  poorer 
students  to  see  frequently  the  work  of  the  better,  and,  if  the 
matter  is  tactfully  managed,  a  stimulus  to  still  higher  accom- 
plishment can  thus  be  applied  to  the  leaders.  From  the  first, 
however,  it  is  necessary  to  insist  that  the  laboratory  work 
shall  not  be  made  a  drawing  lesson.  The  laboratory  hours 
are  for  observation,  comparison,  and  recording  of  essential 
facts;  and  time  for  outline  drawings  alone  can  then  be 


98  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

taken.     All  refinements  should  be  added  outside  of  these 
hours. 

After  the  principles  of  diagrammatic  drawing  have  been 
grasped  by  the  students,  the  teacher  may  well  give  some 
suggestions  as  to  the  use  of  shading  for  expressing  solidity, 
rotundity,  and  perspective.     A  drawing  of  this  character, 
made  by  a  student,  is  shown  in  Fig.  15.     In  this  particular 
those  teachers  and  students  who  have  had  some  training: 
in  ordinary  drawing  are  at  an  advantage,  but  all  can  learn 
for  themselves  something  of  its  simpler  principles.     To 
this  end  the  best  procedure  for  the  learner  is  to  select  from 
a  good  book  a  well-shaded  drawing  of  a  familiar  object, 
and  then,  with  both  object  and  drawing  before  him,  to  copy 
the  drawing  with  care,  noting  just  where  the  shading  is 
made  heaviest,  and  the  apparent  reason  therefor.     Par- 
ticularly fine  models  of  such  drawings,    involving   many 
familiar  objects  drawn  much  as  the  student  should  aim  to  do 
them,  are  found  in  the  plates  in  Sargent's  Silva  of  North 
America,   a  work  further  mentioned   in  the  chapter  on 
Books.     A  few  trials  of  this  sort  with  different  objects  — 
seeds,  twigs,  fruits  —  will  show  that  the  subject  is,  after 
all,  very  simple,  and  that  a  few  precautions,  especially  in 
the  use  of  the  deepest  shading  for  the  darkest  shadows, 
and  in  the  treatment  of  the  object  as  lighted  from  some  one 
direction,  will  enable  the  student  to  produce  very  satis- 
factory results.     I  know  at  least  one  person  who  by  this 
method    taught   himself   to    use    shading    tolerably   well. 


SCIENTIFIC    DRAWIXG    AND    DESCRIPTION  99 

The  use  of  ink,  instead  of  pencil,  for  finishing  drawings 
has  manifold  advantages,  and  only  the  drawback  that  it 
takes  more  time.  The  ink  makes  the  drawings  safe  against 
nibbing  through  handling  of  the  books;  but  the  chief 
merit  of  the  method  consists  in  the  far  better  appearance 
of  the  drawings  themselves,  both  as  to  clearness,  per- 
manence, and  artistic  effect,  an  improvement  which  tends 
greatly  to  foster  the  very  desirable  pride  of  students  in  the 
appearance  of  the  results  of  their  work.  In  the  case  of  my 
own  students,  the  use  of  the  ink  is  made  voluntary  with 
beginners,  though  it  is  required  in  advanced  courses,  where 
most  of  the  extra  work  entailed  must  be  done  outside  of  the 
laboratory.  But,  almost  invariably,  the  best  students,  after 
they  have  once  tried  the  ink,  take  to  its  use  altogether.^ 
Liquid  India  ink,  sold  by  all  stationers,  is  the  best,  and 
gives  results  far  superior  to  any  other  kind.  Care  must  be 
taken  to  prevent  it  from  drying  up  in  the  bottle,  which 
should  be  kept  stoppered  even  between  dips  of  the  pen. 
The  finer  writing  pens  (Gillott's  303  or  171)  are  best  for  the 
purpose.  Of  course  the  outlining  must  first  be  done  in 
pencil,  the  marks  being  erased  after  the  ink  has  been  added. 

1  Incidentally,  the  use  of  the  ink  in  this  way  will  teach  the  students  the 
mode  of  preparing  drawings  for  publication  by  the  commonest  of  the 
modern  methods  of  picture  reproduction,  viz.  line  cuts  by  photo-zincog- 
raphy. Pencil  drawings  can  be  reproduced  only  by  the  less  satisfactory 
half-tone  process,  or  by  the  very  expensive  lithography.  This  subject  of 
the  modes  of  preparing  illustrations  for  reproduction  by  the  various  mod- 
ern methods  is  synoptically  discussed  by  C.  R.  Barnes,  in  the  Botayiical 
Gazette,  43,  1907,  59. 


lOO  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

Shading  can  be  added  either  by  stippHng  (fine  dots,  made 
more  numerous  for  a  darker  shading)  or  by  cross-hatching 
(fine  lines  parallel  and  crossing)  or  even,  though  this  is  less 
desirable,  by  use  of  a  hard  pencil.  Care  must  be  taken  in 
the  use  of  such  shading,  however,  to  guard  against  the  uni- 
versal tendency  of  beginners  to  make  it  too  black.  .Here, 
as  in  all  other  phases  of  drawing,  every  encouragement 
should  be  given  to  individual  artistic  tastes,  even  to  the  point 
of  allowing  some  use  of  color.  But  it  is  constantly  neces- 
sary to  guard  against  the  eclipse  of  the  naturalist  by  the 
artist;  and  the  beautiful  drawings  must  be  allowed  to  be 
no  less  accurate  than  those  which  are  merely  diagrammatic. 
While  scientific  drawing  is  a  unit  as  to  its  aims  and  gen- 
eral methods,  there  are  several  forms  of  it  adapted  to  dif- 
ferent uses.  First  of  all,  and  that  which  beginners  will 
mostly  use,  are  the  simple  outlines  without  attempt  at  per- 
spective, of  which  examples  occur  in  this  book  in  Figs. 
14,  16,  17.  They  are  best  when  they  exhibit  fidelity  to  the 
form  and  features  of  the  object  in  conjunction  with  even- 
ness, completeness,  and  economy  of  lining.  Next  come  the 
shaded  drawings,  exhibiting  solidity  and  perspective,  the 
shading  being  added  by  varying  blacloiess  of  penciling, 
or,  when  ink  is  used,  by  stipple  or  cross-hatching.  A  good 
example  is  shown  in  Fig.  15  in  this  book.  Another  kind, 
applicable  principally  to  the  drawing  of  physiological  or 
other  apparatus,  though  also  useful  for  some  plant  struc- 
tures, is  the  outline  perspective,  in  which  the  outlines  are 


SCIENTIFIC    DRAWING    AND   DESCRIPTION        loi 

SO  arranged  as  to  give  the  effect  of  perspective  without  the 
use  of  any  shading;  and  examples  thereof  are  given  in 
Figs.  4,  6,  19  in  this  book.  This  is  a  useful  sort  which  it 
is  well  for  the  student  to  learn  to  make.  Finally,  there  is  a 
kind,  extremely  useful  for  showing  the  exact  construction 
of  apparatus  set  up  for  experiments,  in  which  everything 
is  shown  in  exact  median  section  (or  in  optical  section), 
while  conventional  markings  on  each  part  indicate  its 
composition  at  a  glance.  This  method,  which  is  perhaps 
too  special  for  use  in  an  elementary  course,  is  illustrated  by 
Figs.  10,  20,  and  others,  in  this  book,  and  by  most  of  the 
figures  in  my  work  on  Plant  Physiology,  where,  unfor- 
tunately, the  use  of  the  conventional  signs  is  not  consistently 
carried  out.  Some  additional  matter  upon  scientific  draw- 
ing in  its  more  special  phases,  including  an  account  of  the 
valuable  method  of  drawing  from  photographs  by  the  inter- 
mediate use  of  blue  prints,  is  given  in  the  last-named  book. 
Drawing  with  the  microscope  might  seem  at  first  sight 
to  offer  particular  difiiculties;  but,  in  fact,  this  is  not  the 
case,  since  most  objects  are  seen,  and  are  to  be  drawn,  in 
but  one  plane.  There  is  an  instrument,  the  camera  lu- 
cida,  which  makes  drawing  with  the  microscope  a  simple, 
accurate,  and  almost  mechanical  operation;  but  its  use 
belongs  rather  with  advanced  courses,  and  the  beginner 
may  best  do  all  of  his  drawing  freehand.  In  drawing  cells 
care  should  be  taken  to  represent  them,  as  far  as  possible, 
with  their  walls  complete,  not  ragged  and  unfinished  as  the 


I02  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

sectioning  instrument  is  likely  to  leave  them;  and  cer- 
tainly the  drawing  should  clearly  distinguish  wall,  cavity, 
and  intercellular  space.  In  drawing  tissues  it  is  a  good 
plan,  on  the  diagrammatic  principle,  to  shade  all  walls, 
leaving  their  cavities  and  intercellular  spaces  blank,  even 
in  cases  where  the  reverse  would  make  a  better  picture  of 
the  object.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  diagrammatic  clearness  is 
the  highest  quality  of  a  scientific  drawing. 

The  copying  of  published  drawings,  in  addition  to  its 
occasional  use  in  teaching  good  methods  of  drawing,  has 
a  value  at  times  in  connection  with  the  completeness  of  the 
students'  records,  especially  when  material  for  an  original 
drawing  is  poor  or  wanting  at  a  crucial  juncture.  Then  a 
good  drawing  copied  from  an  authoritative  source  is  cer- 
tainly better  than  no  drawing  at  all.  But,  of  course,  this 
method  must  be  considered  an  emergency  measure,  and 
should  be  used  only  after  assurance  of  the  complete 
understanding  of  the  drawing  by  the  student,  and  with 
suitable  acknowledgment  of  the  source  written  beneath  it. 

Generalized  drawings  or  diagrams,  designed  to  express 
in  the  simplest  possible  form  the  comparative  development 
of  morphologically-identical  structures,  and  worked  out  in 
color  or  suitable  shadings,  have  a  very  high  educational 
value.  They  are  called  for  a  number  of  times  in  Part  II 
of  this  book,  where  examples  occur  in  Figs.  i8,  24,  35. 
Their  correct  construction  necessitates  the  greatest  clear- 
ness of  ideas,  and  inculcates  comparison  and  generaliza- 


SCIENTIFIC    DRAWING    AND   DESCRIPTION         103 

tion  of  the  highest  value.  Indeed,  such  diagrams  demand 
thinking  of  well-nigh  mathematical  exactness  and  clear- 
ness. The  coloring  to  show  the  homologous  structures 
can  be  added  by  water  colors,  but  is  more  conveniently 
and  economically  given  by  pencils,  which  may  be  bought 
in  small  boxes  containing  six  colors. 

It  may  seem  to  the  reader  that  in  giving  no  less  than  a 
dozen  full  pages  to  the  matter  of  drawing  alone,  I  ascribe 
to  that  subject  an  importance  exceeding  its  actual  value 
in  any  good  course  for  beginners.  Besides,  the  reader  will 
doubtless  agree  with  the  opinion  of  an  assistant  of  mine, 
who  tells  me  this  chapter  is  simply  interminable.  I  fully 
admit  the  objections,  but  wish  to  say  in  defense  that  I 
warned  the  reader  in  the  Introduction  that  I  am  treating 
all  subjects  more  fully  than  I  expect  them  to  be  used  in  any 
single  elementary  course.  I  do  this  in  part  to  provide  a 
definite  basis  for  further  discussion  and  progress,  in  part 
as  an  aid  to  the  self-education  of  the  teacher,  and  in  part 
for  the  sake  of  presenting  abundant  material  from  which 
selection  may  be  made  according  tp  tastes  and  local  con- 
ditions. Some  teachers  will  derive  greater  educational 
value  from  a  strong  emphasis  upon  drawing,  others  from  a 
different  sort.  It  is  my  aim  to  treat  all  matters  as  fully 
as  I  think  can  be  of  worth  in  any  elementary  course,  on  the 
basis  of  what  seems  to  me  the  best  educational  experience. 
It  is  the  teacher's  part  to  use  his  judgment  as  to  whether 
these  suggestions  have  value  for  him. 


I04  THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

The  descriptive  notes  should  be  complementary  to  the 
drawings,  not  a  repetition  of  features  these  show.  What- 
soever can  best  be  expressed  by  drawings  should  thus  be 
represented,  and  what  can  best  be  expressed  in  words 
should  be  written.  The  notes  should  be  as  condensed 
as  possible,  both  for  the  effect  upon  the  student's  composi- 
tion and  also  for  the  convenience  of  the  teacher  who  has 
to  examine  them.  They  should,  as  a  rule,  form  complete 
sentences,  of  terse  and  expressive  English.  Indeed,  sci- 
entific study  offers  peculiarly  good  material  for  training 
in  expression,  and  some  arrangement  to  that  end  should 
be  made  between  departments  of  English  and  of  Science. 
In  suitable  places  the  notes  should  be  thrown  into  tabular 
form.  Drawings  and  notes  should,  of  course^  exhibit  their 
mutual  connections,  which  they  do  the  better  if  they  stand 
opposite  one  another  on  facing  pages,  with  suitable  cross- 
references  and  titles. 

In  addition  to  drawings  and  descriptive  notes  there  is  an- 
other form  of  expression  particularly  valuable  where  figures 
are  concerned,  and  that  is  by  graphs,  commonly  called 
curves.  The  graphs  bear  very  much  the  same  relation  to 
tables  of  figures  that  pictures  do  to  words ;  that  is,  they  not 
only  express  numerical  data  clearly  to  the  eye  at  a  glance, 
but  they  also  bring  out  facts  and  relations  which  would  not 
be  suspected  from  inspection  of  tables  of  figures  alone. 
But  their  mode  of  construction,  though  simple,  hardly  has 
application  to  the  work  of  an  elementary  course  in  Botany, 


SCIENTIFIC    DRAWING   AND    DESCRIPTION        105 

unless  perhaps  in  certain  phases  of  physiology.  The 
teacher  who  desires  to  know  more  of  their  construction 
and  educational  use  can  find  them  fully  described  and  illus- 
trated in  my  book  Laboratory  Course  in  Plant  Physiol- 
ogy, second  edition. 

Synoptical  essays,  prepared  after  the  completion  of 
work  under  each  topic,  are  a  xQvy  \-aluable  kind  of  record, 
for  their  preparation  involves  review,  study  in  proportion, 
generalization,  conciseness,  and  directness.  They  thus 
secure  most  of  the  values  of  examinations,  and  may  we?i 
be  made  a  substitute  for  the  latter.  They  should  be 
strictly  limited  in  length,  though  required  to  include  all 
matters  of  importance.  Their  English  should  be  of  the 
best,  and  it  certainly  would  be  an  advantage  if  they  could 
be  made  to  count  as  work  in  English  composition.  It  is 
not  at  all  intended  that  the  essay  shall  simply  repeat  ma- 
terial already  carefully  recorded  in  the  laborator>'  books; 
it  is  rather  a  comprehensive  but  sjTioptical  outline  of  the 
entire  subject  based  upon  all  sources  of  information,  — 
laboratory  work,  reading,  lectures,  or  demonstrations.  The 
essay  should  be  primarily  a  study  in  proportion  and  corre- 
lation. After  the  students  have  done  their  best  with  their 
first  essay,  it  is  well  for  the  teacher  to  read  them  a  selected 
one,  or  even  one  composed  by  himself;  and  to  illustrate 
this  point  there  is  given  in  Part  II,  Section  3,  of  this  book,  an 
essay  which  I  have  read  to  my  own  students  after  they  have 
completed  the  study  of  the  seed,  as  called  for  in  the  first  three 


To6  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

sections  of  the  outlines.  Of  course  these  essays  should  be 
corrected  by  the  teacher  and  returned  to  the  students, 
and  they  should  be  preserved  permanently  with  the  other 
records  of  the  student's  work. 

There  are  several  different  methods  of  preserving  the 
records  of  work,  and  most  teachers  have  some  favorite 
way  of  their  own.  Each  has  its  merits  and  also  its  draw- 
backs, some  of  which  are  manifest,  while  others  become 
known  only  after  use.  Very  commonly  the  records  are 
made  upon  separate  sheets,  often  of  different  paper  for 
drawings  and  notes,  and  these  are  finally  preserved  in  a 
portfolio,  or  some  kind  of  cover  with  adjustable  fasteners. 
This  arrangement  is  convenient  for  the  hour  of  use,  but 
has  the  objection  that  the  result  is  neither  neat,  homoge- 
neous, nor  compact  for  permanent  preservation.  So  far  as  I 
can  find,  no  form  of  cover  with  mechanical  fasteners  has  yet 
been  invented  which  is  efficient  and  convenient.  If  oblisfed 
to  use  any  poor  system,  the  student  takes  less  pride  and 
satisfaction  in  the  progress  of  his  work,  and,  therefore,  gives 
less  care  and  neatness  to  the  preparation  of  records.  More- 
over such  covers  cannot  be  conveniently  and  appropriately 
preserved  among  his  other  books,  though  this  is  a  desid- 
eratum from  all  points  of  view,  and  especially  from  this, 
which  has  been  amply  illustrated  in  the  experience  of  my 
own  students,  that  if  the  student  himself  becomes  a  teacher, 
his  records  will  be  of  much  practical  use.  No  system  has 
been  devised,  and  probably  none  can  be  developed,  which 


SCIENTIFIC   DRAWING   AND    DESCRIPTION  107 

will  meet  all  the  conditions  of  the  case,  but  after  trial  of 
many  methods  I  have  concluded  that  a  well-bound  book 
offers,  upon  the  whole,  the  optimum  combination  of  ad- 
vantages; and  I  have  invented  a  special  laboratory  book 
which  I  have  used  for  several  years  to  my  great  satisfaction. 
It  is  made  of  the  best  quality  of  ledger  paper,  8^  by  6f 
inches,  is  ruled  on  the  right-hand  page  for  notes  and  un- 
ruled on  the  left-hand  for  drawings,  is  strongly  bound  in 
linen,  and  is  stamped  on  the  cover  with  the  name  of  the 
institution  and  course.  It  is  offered  for  sale  by  the  Cam- 
bridge Botanical  Supply  Company,  and  a  sample  is 
sent  by  them  to  teachers.  Experience  shows  that  a  thor- 
oughly good  book  of  this  kind,  even  though  somewhat 
expensive,  pays  well  in  the  end,  and  especially  in  the  sat- 
isfaction which  the  best  students  take  in  its  possession. 

Students  who  become  especially  interested  in  their  work 
often  ask  to  have  their  records  examined  in  the  rough  before 
placing  them  in  the  books,  doing  this  in  order  to  avoid  the 
chance  of  having  to  mar  the  pages  by  erasures  or  other  cor- 
rections. Though  the  intention  is  laudable  the  results  are 
not  good,  for  a  reason  which  I  have  earlier  given  (page  79), 
i.e.  because  even  the  best  students  under  these  circum- 
stances tend  to  rely  overmuch  on  the  aid  of  the  teacher. 
I  have  found  it  much  better  in  every  way  to  require  them  to 
enter  their  records  at  once,  the  best  that  they  can,  in  their 
books,  making  the  corrections  later  where  needed.  The 
principle  should  be  established  that  the  books  represent 


Io8  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

primarily  a  record  of  the  student's  progress  rather  than  a 
correct  synopsis  of  the  subject. 

Finally  I  wish  to  repeat,  in  connection  with  this  matter 
of  making  of  records,  the  same  warning  I  have  given  for 
other  phases  of  teaching,  that  while  a  knowledge  and  habit- 
ual use  of  the  methods  approved  by  general  experience  is, 
from  all  points  of  view,  desirable,  at  the  same  time  the 
teacher  must  guard  against  too  close  a  devotion  to  these, 
and  should  hold  himself  free  to  depart  therefrom  when- 
soever he  feels  that  his  course  can  profit  thereby.  Never 
should  he  allow  formalism  to  become  dominant,  or  to  sub- 
ordinate the  liberal,  elastic,  progressive,  adaptive,  spirit  in 
which  the  work  should  be  carried  on.  His  course  should 
grow  like  an  organism,  with  its  groundwork  laid  down  in 
accord  with  the  experience  of  heredity,  but  with  a  large 
margin  of  possible  adaptive  adjustment  to  the  immediate 
conditions  of  the  surroundings. 


VI.   ON   BOTANICAL   LABORATORIES   AND 
THEIR    EQUIPMENT 

Botanical  laboratories  are  of  many  sorts,  from  those 
built  especially  for  their  purpose  by  some  of  the  greater 
universities  down  to  unaltered  schoolrooms;  but  all  have 
this  in  common,  that  the  rooms  and  their  furniture  are  of 
far  less  account  than  the  person  who  directs  them.  That  is 
to  say,  it  is  more  profitable  to  give  a  good  teacher  to  a  poor 
laboratory  than  a  good  laboratory  to  a  poor  teacher.  Labo- 
ratories, like  methods,  are  tools  for  skilled  workmen,  and 
they  give  but  indifferent  results  in  the  hands  of  those  un- 
trained in  their  use.  Suitable  laboratories  every  teacher 
should  strive  for ;  but  he  is  not  to  suppose  that  good  work 
must  be  put  off  until  he  achieves  them. 

Many  universities,  some  colleges,  and  a  few  high  schools 
now  possess  good  botanical  laboratories;  and  if  a  teacher 
has  the  opportunity  to  direct  the  building  of  a  new  one,  he 
should  study  some  of  these,  and  ask  advice  of  their  directors, 
whose  addresses  he  may  obtain  by  writing  to  the  Professor 
of  Botany  in  the  principal  university  of  his  State.  In 
universities  and  some  colleges,  the  general  or  elementary 
laboratory,  the  only  one  with  which  we  are  concerned  in 
this  book,  is  part  of  a  building  devoted  entirely  to  botanical 

109 


no  THE   TEACHING  BOTANIST 

education.  One  of  the  most  recent  and  best  of  such  build- 
ings in  this  country,  and  one  altogether  admirable  in  its 
completeness,  efficiency,  and  pleasing  finish,  is  Clark  Hall  of 
the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  at  Amherst,  Massa- 
chusetts. In  colleges  the  laboratory  is  usually  part  of  a 
building  devoted  to  biology,  or  to  the  sciences,  while  in 
schools  it  is  almost  always  a  single  room  in  a  general  high 
school  building.  As  for  high  school  botanical  laboratories, 
we  have  some  admirable  examples  in  this  country,  especially 
in  the  Middle  West,  where  botanical  education  in  the  schools 
is  far  more  advanced  than  it  is  in  the  East.  Illustrated 
descriptions  of  some  of  these  laboratories  have  been  pub- 
lished in  journals  accessible  in  all  large  libraries,^  and  the 
teacher  who  has  the  opportunity  to  develop  a  new  labora- 
tory should  make  use  of  the  suggestions  in  those  articles. 
First  we  consider  the  laborator}-  room.  The  prime 
requisite  is  abundant  light,  which  implies  as  many  and 
large  windows  as  can  possibly  be  provided.     These  it  is 

*  The  fine  laboratory  of  the  Detroit  Central  High  School  is  described 
and  pictured  by  L.  Muebach  in  the  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy,  2, 
1899,  425,  and  that  of  the  Duluth  High  School  in  the  same  journal,  2, 
1899,  353.  Illustrated  descriptions  of  College  laboratories  are  contained  in 
the  same  journal, — of  Cornell  University,  by  L.  B.  Elliott  in  i,  1898, 
23 ;  of  Western  Reserve  University  by  F.  H.  Herrick,  in  3,  1900,  949 ; 
of  Ripon  College  by  C.  D.  Marsh  in  4,  1901,  1149;  of  Vassar  College, 
by  A.  L.  Tread  WELL  in  s,  1902,  171 7;  of  Morningside  College  by 
R.  B.  Wylie  in  5,  1902,  1949.  A  good  synoptical  description  of  the 
outfit  needed  for  a  small  botanical  laboratory  is  given  by  C.  E.  Bessey  in 
the  same  journal,  2,  1899,  232,  and  by  S.  D.  Brooks  in  5,  1902,  1603. 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  III 

difficult  to  secure  from  architects,  since  they  do  not  look 
well  from  the  outside  of  a  building,  nor  do  they  harmonize 
with  the  smaller  sort  which  are  ample  for  most  other  uses. 
The  best-lighted  laboratory  known  to  me  is  that  of  Clark 
Hall,  already  mentioned,  which  has  lofty  windows  upon 
three  sides.  This,  with  many  others  of  its  admirable 
characters,  is  well  brought  out  in  the  accompanying  photo- 
graph (Plate  I),  which  I  owe  to  the  courtesy  of  its 
designer  and  director.  Professor  G.  E.  Stone.  Where 
windows  are  provided  upon  only  one  wall,  they  should 
preferably  face  the  north  in  order  to  avoid  exposure  to  di- 
rect sunlight;  but  this  point  is  really  of  no  great  conse- 
quence, since  thick  white  shades  perfectly  temper  the  direct 
sun,  and  in  short  winter  days  it  is  an  advantage  to  have 
the  windows  face  in  the  lightest  direction.  Good  lighting 
is  favored  also  by  tinting  the  walls  white  or  nearly  so,  and 
by  the  use  of  light-colored  wood  for  the  furniture. 

The  size  of  the  laboratory  room,  within  limits,  is  better 
the  larger  it  is.  But  since  economy  of  room  is  usually 
necessary,  it  is  desirable  to  know  the  size  which  experience 
has  shown  to  be  the  optimum  resultant  between  these  con- 
flicting conditions.  Studies  made  to  this  end  by  C.  S. 
MiNOT  have  shown  *  that  for  each  student  the  desirable 
working  area  is  about  5  by  3^  feet,  or  17 J  square  feet, 
while  about  11  square  feet  in  addition  are  necessary  for 

^  Discussed  in  his  very  suggestive  article  upon  the  unit  system  in 
laboratory  construction,  in  Science,  13,  1901,  409. 


112 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


tables,  cases,  and  extra  space  used  in  common :  that  is  28J 
square  feet  in  all  for  each  student.     For  a  division  of  24 


-I  r 

Fig.  I.  —  Suggestion  for  the  arrangement  of  an  optimum  standard  botanical  laboratory, 
lighted  on  two  adjoining  sides;  scale,  8  feet  to  the  inch. 

The  room  is  30  feet  square  and  therefore  900  square  feet  in  area,  and  is  designed  for  a  division  of 
25  students,  each  having  approximately  35  square  feet  of  sjace. 
A.   Apparatus  and  books.  M.   Museum  cases. 

C.  Wardian  case.  P.   Teacher's  platform. 

D.  Demonstration  and  material  tables.  S.   Sink. 


I.   Microscope  case. 

L.   Locker  or  drawer  case. 


T.   Tool  table. 
W.   Students'  work  tables. 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  113 

Students  a  room  would,  therefore,  require  684  squane  feet  of 
area.  For  advanced  laboratories,  or  others  which  are  used 
exclusively  for  laboratory  work,  this  is,  I  believe,  ample. 
But  in  most  schools  the  laboratory  must  also  serve  as  a  class 
room,  museum  room,  and  storage  room  for  the  apparatus 
and  materials ;  and  certainly  this  allowance  is  then  insuffi- 
cient. After  some  calculation  and  experiment  I  have  con- 
cluded that  35  square  feet  to  each  student  represents  an 
optimum  allowance  for  such  a  general  laboratory,  though, 
if  necessary,  it  can  be  scaled  downward  to  a  minimum  at 
about  30  square  feet. 

The  form  of  the  laboratory  room  is  nearly  always 
fixed  by  the  plan  of  the  building,  but  there  is  one  feature 
which  is  practically  indispensable,  —  namely,  its  long  axis 
should  run  parallel  with  the  lighted  side,  on  which  principle 
a  corner  room  may  be  square.  The  form  recommended  by 
MiNOT  for  a  division  of  24  students,  each  having  285  square 
feet,  is  one  30  feet  long  by  23  wide ;  but  I  think  a  greater 
length  in  proportion  to  width  is  still  better,  even  to  a  form 
practically  twice  as  long  as  wide.  This  proportion  is  ap- 
proximately embodied  in  the  accompanying  suggested 
plan  (Fig.  2) ,  which  shows  a  room  designed  for  a  division  of 
25  students,  each  having  an  area  of  35  square  feet;  it  is  43 
by  21  feet,  therefore  containing  903  square  feet.  If  lighted 
also  at  one  end,  it  could  be  shortened,  and  the  Wardian 
case,  sink,  and  tool  table  could  be  placed  in  the  opposite 
corner.  A  square  corner  room,  however,  is  better  in  every 
I 


114 


THE  TEACHING   BOTANIST 


09 


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LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  115 

respect,  as  Fig.  i  illustrates,  and  it  should  be  secured  if 
possible.  On  the  same  basis  of  space,  it  should  be  30  feet 
square,  thus  making  an  area  of  900  square  feet. 

Thus  much  for  the  room;  we  turn  now  to  its  furniture, 
of  which  the  work  tables  come  first.  Much  study  has  been 
given  to  the  development  of  good  tables  for  laboratory 
work,^  especially  in  advanced  and  special  courses;  but  so 
far  as  our  general  course  is  concerned  the  subject  is  simple. 
Individual  tables,  with  ample  drawers  and  a  locker  for 
storage  of  the  microscope,  are,  of  course,  the  ideal;  but  they 
are  usually  impracticable  because  both  of  cost  and  room. 
I  have  tried  many  kinds  and  have  concluded  that  the  sim- 
plest possible  form,  that  shown  by  the  accompanying  figure 
(Fig.  3) ,  is,  upon  the  whole,  the  best.  The  optimum  size 
should  be  such  that  each  student  is  allowed  a  space  of  3  feet 
long,  though  this  can  be  scaled  down  to  a  minimum  of  2 
feet  if  necessar}^,  by  ih  wide.  If  the  tables  are  arranged  in 
the  usual  way,  that  is,  with  an  end  to  a  window,  then  the 
students  will  sit  along  both  sides,  and  one  may  sit  at  the  end, 
where  the  better  light  exposure  compensates  for  its  greater 
distance  from  the  window.  In  this  case  3  feet  is  a  good 
standard  width  for  the  table,  with  3  feet  of  length  along  the 

'  Detailed  descriptions,  with  illustrations,  of  various  forms  of  laboratory 
tables  are  given  by  M.  J.  Elrod  in  the  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy, 
2,  1899,  326;  and  there  are  other  notes  on  the  same  subject  in  the  same 
Journal,  —  by  W.  E.  Britton  in  5,  1902,  1968,  and  by  P.  A.  Fish  in  6, 
1903,  2209.  A  design  for  a  table  adapted  especially  to  the  general  labo- 
ratory is  given  by  O.  W.  Caldwell  in  his  Suggestions  to  Teachers,  20. 


Il6  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

side  for  each  student  and  i^  feet  for  the  end  place.  Thus 
a  table  for  5  students  would  be  7I  feet  long,  and  one  for  7 
students  would  be  10^  feet  long.  Drawers  must  somewhere 
be  provided  for  the  possessions  of  each  student,  and  if  the 
places  at  the  tables  are  used  each  by  only  one  student, 


(3 


Fig.  3.  —  Elevation  view  of  a  good  form  of  laboratory  table;  scale,  i  inch  to  2  feet. 

then  shallow  drawers  at  each  place,  as  shown  by  Fig.  3, 
are  most  convenient ;  but  if  several  students  use  the  same 
seat,  then  drawers,  lockers,  or  boxes,  one  for  each  student,  . 
with  some  for  storage  of  supplies  and  the  like,  should  be  fur- 
nished elsewhere  in  the  room,  as  shown  in  the  accompany- 
ing plans.  This  arrangement  is  much  more  economical  of 
table  space  than  the  alternative  plan  of  vertical  rows  of 
drawers  between  the  seats  at  the  tables.  All  drawers  should 
be  furnished  with  handles  (or  "pulls  "),  which  have  a  place 
for  a  label  above  (for  name  of  student  or  of  contents) ,  and 
should  be  provided  with  a  movable  button  check  on  the 
inside  of  the  back  to  prevent  any  accidentally-complete 
withdrawal.  The  tables  may  be  of  oak  for  durability  and 
effect;  but  pine  or  whitewood  are  nearly  as  good.     The 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  117 

tops  should  not  be  varnished,  or  they  will  be  quickly 
spoiled  by  spilt  alcohol,  but  should  be  finished  simply  with 
oil.  Some  teachers  prefer  black  tops,  especially  for  mi- 
croscopical work,  since  there  is  less  reflection  into  the  eyes, 
and  such  tops  may  readily  be  prepared  according  to  easily 
accessible  directions.*  It  is  also  worth  while  to  have  each 
student's  territory  ruled  off  in  plain  boundaries. 

While  a  rectangular  table  like  that  here  described  is 
the  form  most  commonly  used,  some  teachers  prefer  them 
of  a  w^dge  shape,  widest  towards  the  window,  and  narrow- 
ing away  from  it ;  for  thus  the  students  interfere  less  with 
one  another's  light,  and,  incidentally,  the  access  of  the 
teacher  to  all  of  the  students  is  facilitated.  These  tables 
were  invented  by  C.  E.  Bessey,^  and,  as  Plate  I  will 
show,  they  have  been  adopted  in  the  fine  laboratory  of 
Clark  Hall.  Their  advantages  are  manifest,  and  their  only 
disadvantages  are  a  somewhat  greater  cost  of  construction 
and  a  rather  less  economy  of  room. 

A  tight  waste  basket,  which  is  ample  for  most  of  the 

*  Directions  are  given  by  F.  E.  Lloyd  in  his  Teaching  of  Botany,  213, 
by  W.  D.  Frost  in  the  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy,  i,  1898,  145,  and 
by  P.  A.  Fish,  in  the  same  Journal,  6,  1903,  221 1.  Suggestions  upon 
the  general  subject  of  the  treatment  of  table  tops  are  contained  in  other 
notes  in  the  same  Journal,- — by  C.  W.  Dodge,  in  i,  1898,  121,  by 
F.  R.  Wright  in  2,  1899,  231,  and  by  H.  H.  Wilder,  in  5,  1902,  1651. 

^  They  are  also  described  in  the  article  by  M.  J.  Elrod  cited  in  the 
footnote  two  pages  earlier.  They  were,  however,  reinvented  in  Europe,  by 
S.  RosTOWZEW,  as  described  and  figured  in  Botanisches  Centralblatt,  81, 
1900,  361. 


ii8 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


refuse  of  an  elementary  course,  should  stand  under  each 
table.  The  best  chairs  are  those  with  revolving  seat  ad- 
justable for  height,  but  not  tipping,  with  back  but  no  arms, 

and  with  rubber  caps  on  the 
legs.  Such  a  chair,  which  is 
shown  by  Fig.  4,  I  have  in 
satisfactory  use,  although  it 
would  be  better  if  the  base 
had  a  wider  spread. 

The  other  furniture  of  the 
laboratory  should  include  one 
or  two  large  tables  for  hold- 
ing  the    supply   of   material 


for  the  class  and  for  demon- 
stration, etc.  These  should 
be  built  about  three  feet 
high,  which  is  the  height 
most  convenient  for  a  person 
to  use  while  standing;    and 

Fig.  4.  — A  satisfactory  laboratory      they    should    be    shcathcd    in 

™  %.u      .  1     *      •       underneath     to    make    cup- 

I  he  screws  permit  the  seat  alone  to  swing  '^ 

when  set  at  any  desired  height.  boards  '  for     StOragC     of     claSS 

material,  glassware,  and  so  forth.  A  teacher's  platform, 
with  a  blackboard,  is  essential,  and  over  it,  as  well  as  else- 
where in  the  room,  should  be  racks  for  displaying  dia- 
grams.    The  best  racks  I  know  ^  consist  of  boards  an  inch 

'  A  somewhat  different  form  of  diagram  rack  is  described  by  W.  D. 
Frost,  in  the  Journal  0/  Applied  Microscopy,  5,  1902,  1993 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT 


119 


thick,  four  inches  wide,  and  ten  feet  long,  rounded  on  one 
edge  to  hold  Dennison's  No.  12  Card  Holders  (which  are 
excellent  holders  for  flat  diagrams) ;  these  boards  run  in  a 
light  guiding  frame,  like  a  window  frame,  and  are  raised 
and  lowered  by  cords  attached  as  shown  in  Fig.  5,  which 
also  shows  a  cross  section  of  the  guiding  case.  The  latter, 
however,  is  not  indispensable.  Two  boards  may  be  used 
in  the  same  case,  as  shown  by  the  sectional  figure,  thus 
allowing  use  of  two  tiers  of  diagrams.  A  tool  table,  with 
the  simpler  tools,  facilities  for  heating  with  gas,  and  ap- 
pliances for  the  manipulation  needed  in  setting  up  physio- 
logical apparatus,  is 
desirable,  while  a 
large  sink,  prefera- 
bly porcelain-lined, 
and  provided  with 
several  taps,  is  nec- 
essary. Lockers,  or 
cases  of  some  form 
for  holding  micro- 
scopes, on  a  princi- 
ple later  discussed, 
are  needed,  and 
should  stand  against  the  wall;  but  if  built  separately, 
they  should  not  rise  over  four  feet  from  the  floor  in  order 
that  they  may  not  obstruct  the  free  view  around  the  room. 
Also  there   is   need   for  cases  with   glass   fronts   for  the 


D 


Fig.  5 .  —  A  successful  rack  for  displaying 
diagrams.  A,  B,  pulleys;  C,  cleat 
for  fastening  cords;  D,  cross  section 
of  the  guiding  case,  enlarged. 


I20  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

museum  collection  (which  is  discussed  later  in  this  book) , 
and  these  should  be  built  with  as  much  glass  and  little 
frame  as  possible,  while  the  shelves  should  be  adjustable 
to  allow  of  rearrangement  of  materials  accompanying 
growth  of  the  collection.  Upon  all  of  these  matters  there 
are  valuable  hints,  with  illustrations,  in  the  various  articles 
descriptive  of  botanical  laboratories  already  cited;  and 
they  are  taken  into  consideration  in  the  plans  presented 
in  Figs.  I  and  2.  Museum  cases  and  methods  are  dis- 
cussed in  the  following  chapter. 

The  arrangement  of  the  furniture  in  the  laboratory 
room  must  be  fixed  in  part  by  local  conditions,  especially 
the  positions  of  the  windows ;  but  certain  desirable  features 
are  to  be  attained  if  possible.  It  seems  generally  agreed 
that  the  best  arrangement  of  the  work  tables,  for  economy 
of  both  light  and  space,  is  that  which  brings  an  end  to  a 
window  as  shown  on  the  accompanying  plans.  Tables 
parallel  with  the  windows  are  sometimes  used,  and  are 
very  convenient,  but  they  are  wasteful  both  of  space  and 
light.  If  arranged  end  to  the  windows,  a  space  of  4I  feet 
should  be  left  betw^een  them  to  permit  easy  access  of  the 
teacher  to  all  of  the  two  rows  of  students,  though  this 
can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  of  4  feet.  The  material 
tables  should  be  near  the  work  tables,  and  one  window 
must  be  left  free  for  the  Wardian  case,  presently  to  be 
mentioned,  as  well  as  to  give  light  to  the  tool  table;  while 
the  other  cases,  the  teacher's  platform,  and  so  forth,  may 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  121 

have  some  such  positions  as  the  plans  of  Figs,  i  and  2 
suggest/ 

A  very  important  part  of  the  furnishing  of  a  general 
botanical  laboratory  is  a  suitable  place  for  keeping  plants 
alive  and  in  health  while  under  observation  or  experiment. 
In  fact  not  much  physiological  or  observational  work  on 
living  plants  can  be  done  without  something  of  this  kind, 
since  the  dryness,  gases,  fluctuations  of  temperature,  and 
other  disturbances  of  an  open  laboratory  are  likely  to 
cause  abnormal  results,  or  even  no  results  at  all.  On  the 
other  hand,  some  suitable  arrangement  permits  not  only 
good  physiological  experimentation,  but  also  the  posses- 
sion of  a  small  collection  of  living  plants,  illustrative  of 
important  facts  in  morphology  and  adaptation,  together 
with  some  that  brighten  the  room  and  give  pleasure  to 
those  who  make  use  of  it.  Later  in  this  book  will  be 
found  some  suggestions  about  these  plants;  here  we  are 
concerned  only  with  some  house  for  them.  Best  of  all 
for  this  purpose  would  be  a  well-built  and  competently- 
managed  conservatory  opening  from  the  laboratory. 
One's  first  thought  would  be  that  a  small  greenhouse  could 
rather  easily  be  built  on  the  roof,  or  in  some  odd  angle  of 
a  large  building;  but,  in  fact,  such  roof  greenhouses  are 
not  satisfactory,  partly  because  of  the  difficulties  of  trans- 

>  There  are  many  valuable  suggestions  upon  laboratory  furniture,  and 
related  matters,  in  an  article  by  L.  B.  Elliott  entitled  "Representative 
American  Laboratories"  in  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy,  i,  1898,  23. 


122  THE  TEACHING  BOTANIST 

porting  plants,  soil,  etc.,  up  to  them,  partly  because  of 
difficulties  in  heating  and  in  keeping  them  wet  enough, 
and  partly  because  the  bad  air  of  the  building  tends  to 
rise  into  them.  But  these  objections  do  not  apply  to  a 
conservatory  opening  from  the  ground  floor,  or  in  a  way 
to  prevent  access  of  the  gases  of  the  building.  Next  in 
value  would  come  a  window  garden,  made  by  throwing  a 
glass  partition  across  a  bow  window;  but  difficulty  is 
likely  to  be  met  in  the  heating,  since  the  heat  is  not  usually 
kept  up  at  night  and  on  holidays  in  laboratories.  This 
difficulty  could  be  met  no  doubt  by  use  of  one  of  the 
simpler  heaters  offered  by  dealers  in  greenhouses,  but  it 
must  be  confessed  that  the  arrangements,  so  far  as  known 
to  me,  are  not  very  practicable,^  and  this  whole  subject 
needs  thorough  investigation.  Finally,  one  may  use  a 
Wardian  case,  standing  wholly  within  the  room,  but 
placed  as  close  as  possible  to  a  window,  and  in  a  bow 
window  if  possible.  Its  chief  requisites  are  abundant 
light,  and  hence  as  much  glass  and  as  little  frame  as  pos- 
sible: sufficient  tightness  of  construction  to  hold  moisture 
and  exclude  most  of  the  gases  of  the  room:  and  some 
provision  for  heating  in  case  the  temperature  of  the  room 
falls  below  io°  C.  at  night,  or  when  high  temperatures  are 
needed  for  special  experiments.  Such  a  case,  built  en- 
tirely of  glass  and  metal,  of  the  form  shown  in  Fig.  6, 

^  Certain  heaters  and  regulators  are  mentioned  by  F.  E.  Lloyd  in  his 
Teaching  of  Botany,  215 ;  but  I  think  that  he  has  not  tried  them. 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT 


123 


was  formerly  in  successful  use  in  my  own  laboratory. 
The  floor  is  a  copper  box,  four  inches  deep,  filled 
with  water  and  heated 
from  below  by  a  Koch 
safety  gas  burner,  which 
shuts  off  the  gas  if 
the  flame  goes  out, 
while  the  flame  is 
shielded  from  draughts 
by  a  sheet-iron  hood, 
arranged  to  prevent  ac- 
cess of  injurious  gases  to 
the  case  above.  The 
height  of  the  flame  is 
controlled  by  a  Reichert 
thermo-regulator  inside 
the  case,  which  can  be 
set  at  any  desired  point, 
and  which  keeps  the 
temperature  within  3° 
C.  of  that  point,  no 
matter  how  low  it  falls 
in  the  room  outside. 
This  case  is,  however, 
more  elaborate  than 
necessary,     and,     after 


Fig.  6.  —  A  successful  Wardian  case; 
scale,  5  inch  =  i  foot. 


my  experience  with  it,  I  believe  one  would  work  well  if 


124 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


built  after  the  plan 
shown  by  Fig.  7,  and 
with  the  following 
specifications:  heating 
box  of  galvanized  iron 
made  the  length  of  the 
window,  two  feet  wide 
and  three  inches  deep, 
with  a  hole  in  one 
comer  for  filling,  and 
a  tight  sheet- iron  hood 
beneath,  so  arranged 
as  to  shield  the  flame 
and  keep  gases  from 
rising  through  the 
joints  of  the  case; 
heat  from  a  safety 
burner,  controlled  by 
the  thermo  -  regulator 
within  the  case;  the 
sashes  made  with  as 
little  wood  as  possible ; 
on  one  of  the  long 
sides  two  doors,  which 
can  be  tightly  closed; 

0        3         6         9        12  IS  21  30 

Fig.  7.  — Plan  for  a  Wardian  case,  in  cross  ^"^  ^°P  hmgcd  tO 
section.  H,  sheet-iron  hood;  h,  hinge  of  alloW  it  tO  be  Opened 
top;  M^.5.,  water  box  of  galvanized  iron; 

dotted  Unes  show  legs  of  table.  for  Ventilation   at 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPAIE->  .  125 

times;  shelves  of  glass  or  wire  netting  added  according  to 
details  of  use ;  the  whole  case  supported  on  a  firm  wooden 
table.  It  should  not  be  built  into  the  window,  at  all  events 
not  without  an  extra  sash  some  inches  from  the  window 
sash.  I  have  no  doubt  that  such  cases,  completely  equipped 
and  abundantly  tested,  will  presently  be  offered  for  sale  by 
supply  companies,  and  that  the  incandescent  electric  cur- 
rent, automatically  regulated,  will  be  successfully  used  for 
the  heating. 

Another  desirable  item  of  laboratory  furnishing  is 
a  small  aquarium  for  water  plants,  and  this  is  the 
more  interesting,  and  likewise  easier  to  keep,  if  it 
contains  also  some  animal  life;  for  a  balance  can  thus 
be  maintained  which  renders  change  of  water  or  other 
close  attention  less  needful.^  It  seems  agreed  that 
aquaria  made  of  glass  sheets  set  in  a  metal  frame  are 
safer  from  breakage,  and  generally  better,  despite  their 
tendency  to  leakage,  than  the  globular  or  other  one- 
piece  forms. 

Thus  far  the  laboratory  room  and  its  furniture;  we 
consider  next  its  equipment.  Of  this  the  most  expensive 
part  is  the  outfit  of  microscopes,  which,  however,  as  the 
chief  tool  of  the  biologist,  ought  by  no  means  to  be  omitted. 
Through  long  and  extensive  use,  and  close  competition 

»  A  brief  description  of  a  successful  balanced  aquarium  is  given  by 
L.  Mtirbach  in  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy,  3,  1900,  995.  A  recent 
book  on  the  subject  is  The  Freshwater  Aquarium  a>ul  its  Inhabitants, 
by  O.  Eggelixg  and  F.  Ehrexberg,  published  by  Holt  &  Co.,  1908. 


126  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

between  makers,  microscopes  are  now  so  nearly  standard- 
ized in  construction,  use,  and  even  price,  that  it  is  not 
only  possible  to  give  with  some  confidence  the  specifica- 
tions of  the  kind  best  for  a  general  course,  but  such  instru- 
ments can  be  purchased  at  substantially  similar  prices 
from  any  of  the  leading  makers,  between  whose  excellent 
products  there  is  little  choice. 

I  have  given  a  good  deal  of  study  to  this  subject  with  the 
result  that  I  consider  the  optimum  standard  microscope 
for  a  general  course  to  be  one  with  the  following  features : 
The  stand  is  of  the  simple  continental  type  with  horseshoe 
base  (which  will  no  doubt  ultimately  be  made  with  rounded 
angles  to  facilitate  cleaning),  and  the  pillar  is  one  piece, 
ending  above  in  a  perforation  handle.  This  handle 
represents  the  greatest  improvement  in  microscope  con- 
struction of  recent  years,  since  it  permits  of  lifting  the  instru- 
ment in  a  natural  and  convenient  manner  without  that  risk 
of  injury  to  the  fine  adjustment  mechanism  which  accom- 
panied the  use  of  the  movable  fine  adjustment  pillar  of  the 
older  type,  and  which  could  be  obviated  only  by  the  awk- 
ward expedient  of  grasping  the  instrument  by  its  base. 
The  mechanism  of  the  fine  adjustment  is  embedded  in 
this  pillar,  but  moved  by  a  screw  in  the  usual  position. 
No  joint  for  inclination  is  needed,  and  when  present,  is 
rarely,  if  ever,  used.  In  consequence  one  might  suppose 
that  the  base  and  entire  column  could  be  cast  all  in  one 
piece,  to  the  advantage  of  solidity,  simplicity,  and  cheap- 


LABORATORIES    AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  127 

ness;  but  I  am  told  that  mechanical  difficulties  forbid 
such  castings,  for  which  reason  the  joint  adds  no  great 
sum  to  the  cost.  The  coarse  adjustment  is  effected  by 
rack  and  pinion,  which  is  so  far  superior  to  the  slide  tube 
in  convenience,  time-saving,  and  security  to  object  and 
lenses,  that  I  advise  every  teacher  to  consider  it  indispen- 
sable, and  if  necessary,  to  get  along  with  fewer  instruments 
rather  than  to  buy  instruments  without  it.  The  diaphragm 
should  be  of  the  iris  type  set  into  the  stage,  a  form  so  much 
more  convenient  than  other  kinds  that  students  will  make 
use  of  it  where  they  never  can  be  induced  to  change  the 
others.  A  dust-proof  nose  piece  for  two  lenses,  allowing 
these  to  be  exchanged  in  a  moment,  is  also,  in  my  opinion, 
far  too  valuable  in  saving  of  time  and  trouble  to  be 
omitted.  The  objectives  are  two,  —  the  lower  of  the 
power  variously  designated  by  different  makers  as  16 
mm.,  |,  3,  or  A,  and  the  higher  of  4  mm.,  ^,  7,  or  D.  A 
single  ocular  will  usually  be  sufficient,  and  should  be  of 
medium  power,  — 7.3  or  III,  —  which  allows,  in  combina- 
tion with  the  above-mentioned  objectives,  magnifying 
powers  of  approximately  65  and  320  diameters,  which  is 
ample  for  all  general  work.  In  the  accompanying  figure 
(Fig.  8)  I  have  sketched  in  elevation  my  idea  of  the  opti- 
mum standard  instrument,  though  none  exactly  in  agree- 
ment therewith  is  now  offered  for  sale  so  far  as  known  to 
me.  But  approximately  such  an  instrument  may  be 
bought  from  any  of  the  makers  at  a  duty-free  price  of 


128 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


under  $30,  and  I  advise  the  teacher  not  to  buy  any  of 
less  value.     Yet,  if  needs  be,  the  nose  piece,  and  then  the 

rack  and  pinion,  can 
be  sacrificed,  cheapen- 
ing the  instrument  to 
about  $20.  I  am 
inclined  to  think, 
however,  that  an  in- 
strument lacking  a 
fine  adjustment  but 
provided  with  rack 
and  pinion  is  better 
than  one  having  a  fine 
adjustment  in  con- 
junction with  a  draw 
tube.  The  various 
accessories,  substage 
condenser,  camera 
lucida,  micrometers, 
mechanical  stages,  and 
immersion  lenses, 
while  finding  occa- 
sional use  for  exhibi- 
tion or  demonstration, 
belong  rather  with 
higher  courses.  The  condition  of  practical  standardiza- 
tion of  microscopes  makes  it  reasonably  certain  that  they 


c 


Fig.  8.  —  Sketch  of  an  optimum  standard 
microscope  for  use  in  a  general  course; 
X  l 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  129 

will  not  be  superseded  by  any  better  forms  in  the  near 
future;  and,  therefore,  they  may  be  bought  in  full  confi- 
dence that  they  will  remain  permanently  of  the  best  type. 

The  leading  manufacturers  and  dealers  in  microscopes  in 
this  country  are  the  Bausch  &  Lome  Optical  Company 
of  Rochester,  New  York  (with  branches  in  Boston,  New 
York,  Washington,  Chicago,  San  Francisco),  and  the 
Spencer  Lens  Company,  of  Buffalo,  New  York,  while 
the  European  makers  best  known  in  this  country,  all  of 
whom  have  agencies  in  New  York  City,  are  Carl  Zeiss 
of  Jena  (who  manufactures  the  instruments  de  luxe  of 
the  world),  Ernst  Leitz  of  Wetzlar,  C.  Reichert,  of 
Vienna,  and  Voichtlander  of  Brunswick.  There  are 
also  firms,  making  instruments  of  much  excellence,  in 
France  and  England,  but  their  product  has  little  vogue  in 
this  country  in  comparison  with  those  above  mentioned. 
The  duty  on  microscopes  is  forty-five  per  cent,  but  schools 
and  colleges  have  the  right  of  duty-free  importation,  and 
the  price  of  the  American  instruments  is  adjusted  to  meet 
the  foreign  competition. 

In  number  the  microscopes  should  approximate  one  to 
each  student,  as  nearly  as  possible,  for  not  only  is  the  wear 
and  tear  on  each  instrument  thus  minimized,  but  it  is 
possible  to  hold  students  responsible  for  damage  or  dirt, 
to  a  degree  which  is  impracticable  where  several  students 
use  the  same  instrument.  Yet  this  latter  must  be  the 
more  usual  condition,  for,  with  large  classes,  it  is  rarely 


130  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

possible,  even  for  the  colleges,  to  provide  a  larger  number 
than  one  microscope  to  each  member  of  a  division,  which 
should,  however,  be  viewed  as  the  irreducible  minimum, 
though  many  there  are  who  must  make  shift  with  less. 
In  this  case  only  constant  and  vigilant  inspection  will 
insure  their  decent  care.  Of  course  the  teacher  will  give 
definite  instruction  upon  their  principle,  use,  and  care; 
and  he  will  be  aided  by  the  use  of  those  very  excellent 
little  pamphlets  and  wall  diagrams,  supplied  free  to  all 
users,  by  most  of  the  dealers,  —  for  advertising  purposes, 
of  course,  but  none  the  worse  for  that.  Several  ways  are 
employed  for  storing  the  microscopes  while  not  in  use. 
Sometimes  they  are  kept  upon  the  tables,  either  in  their 
own  cases,  or  else  under  glass  bell-jars,  or  even  simpler 
coverings,  but  more  often  they  are  placed  in  lockers  built 
under  the  tables  or  elsewhere  in  the  room.  After  trial  of 
different  systems,  I  have  concluded  that  while  some  of  these 
methods  have  their  merits  for  advanced  students  using 
individual  instruments,  a  better  arrangement  for  the  general 
course  is  one  in  which  the  students  always  replace  their  mi- 
croscopes in  the  cases,  and  then  stand  these  on  numbered 
places  *  on  the  shelves  of  a  glass-fronted  case,  where  the 
presence  and  condition  of  the  instruments  can  be  seen, 
with  occasional  inspection,  far  more  easily  than  when  they 
are  kept  in  individual  lockers.     If  the  latter  are  used,  I 

*  A  set  of  steel  figures  arranged  for  stamping  numbers  in  wood  is 
most  useful  for  this  and  other  laboratory  uses,  and  is  of  low  cost. 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  131 

think  the  doors  should  be  paneled  with  glass  to  encourage 
neatness. 

Dissecting  microscopes,  and  these  also  in  number  as 
nearly  as  possible  one  to  each  student,  are  a  far  more  valu- 
able part  of  the  laboratory  equipment  than  is  generally 
supposed.  The  compound  microscope  is  a  very  perfect 
tool,  but  in  fact  there  is  much,  especially  in  objects 
just  beyond  the  unaided  vision,  which  can  be  seen  not 
only  more  conveniently,  but  far  more  clearly,  with  the 
simple  or  dissecting  microscope;  and  the  student  should 
be  taught  to  turn  to  that  first,  resorting  to  the  compound 
instrument  only  when  driven  thereto.  But  the  great 
advantage  of  the  simple  instrument  lies,  of  course,  in  the 
fact  that  it  permits  accurate  dissection,  which  the  com- 
pound instrument  practically  does  not.  If  the  student 
settles  down  in  a  spirit  at  once  deliberate  and  determined, 
centers  his  object  accurately  on  the  stage,  finds  the  best 
focus  and  light,  places  his  hands  in  position  both  com- 
fortable and  steady,  and  then  with  a  definite  problem  in 
mind  applies  needle  and  scalpel  point  to  its  solution,  he 
will  be  surprised  to  find  how  much  and  how  satisfactory 
is  the  knowledge  he  can  gather.  Deliberation  and  defi- 
niteness  are  essentials  in  its  use,  for  most  persons  seem 
to  have  naturally  a  tendency  to  expect  that,  after  a  few 
perfunctory  passes  on  their  part,  the  instrument  will,  by 
some  inherent,  subtle  magic,  do  the  rest,  though  this 
spirit  is  by  no  means  associated  only  with  this  particular 


132 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


instrument,  but  is  common  to  the  use  of  many  others. 
Dissecting  microscopes,  like  the  compound  kind,  are  now 
very  largely  standardized,  and  all  makers  offer,  at  substan- 
tially the  same  price,  a  form  with  horseshoe  base,  rack 
and  pinion  adjustment,  mirror,  and  two  lenses  magnifying 
about  five  and  ten  diameters.  Its  cost  is  from  $io  to  $12, 
which  can  be  reduced  by  the  use  of  a  sliding  adjust- 
ment, though  it  is  increased  by  a  better  grade  of  lenses 
or  by  the  addition  of  arm  rests,  which,  however,  are  a 
convenience  rather  than  a  necessity.  Very  much  simpler 
and  far  cheaper  forms,  of  good  efficiency,  are  offered 
by  several  makers;  among  these  the  Barnes  Dissecting 
Microscope,  offered  by  the  Bausch  &  Lome  Optical 
Company,  at  a  cost  of  $3.25  seems  very  good.  As  a  last 
resort,  and  one  not  so  very  bad,  a  tolerably-efficient  dis- 
secting microscope  can  be  improvised  from  the  lens  and 
instrument  case  described  in  the  following  paragraph. 

The  instruments  needed  by  students  for  their  individual 
dissections,  manipulation,  and  so  forth,  are  fortunately 
few  and  inexpensive.  A  hand  lens  of  two  powers,  forceps, 
a  scalpel,  and  two  needles  (scissors  are  not  needed)  are 
the  articles  most  in  use,  and  are  supplied,  at  a  cost  not 
over  one  dollar,  by  all  of  the  dealers  in  biological  supplies. 
It  is  desirable  to  keep  these  together  in  a  case,  especially 
when  used  in  field  work  where  any  study  of  classification 
is  made,  and  I  have  designed  for  the  use  of  my  own  classes 
the  leatherette  case  shown  in  the  accompanying  figure 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  133 

(Fig.  9).  It  is  now  manufactured  for  sale,  at  a  cost  of 
$1,75  by  the  Bausch  &  Lome  Optical  Comp.any  of 
Rochester,  New  York,  and  by  some  other  dealers.  The 
lens  is  kept  in  one  end,  and  the  dissecting  tools  in  the 
other,  while  the  case  is  made  of  such  form  and  size  that, 
when  laid  flat  on  the  table  with  the  lens-case  resting  upon 
it  and  the  high-power  lens  projecting,  this  is  in  focus  with 


Fig.  9.  —  Dissecting  instruments  for  botanical  use,  with  case;    X  J. 

the  table,  while  if  the  case  is  on  edge,  with  the  low  power 
lens  projecting,  that  is  in  focus;  and  thus  a  tolerably 
efficient  dissecting  miscroscope  is  improvised.  Another 
instrument,  of  which  there  should  be  theoretically  one  to  a 
student,  is  a  sectioning  razor.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, very  much  of  the  necessary  sectioning  can  be  done 
with  the  scalpels  if  these  are  kept  reasonably  sharp,  for 
which  purpose  a  suitable  stone  and  hone  should  be  acces- 
sible in  the  tool  table.  The  finer  sectioning  can  be  done 
with  a  few  razors,  i.e.  one  to  each  of  a  division  given  out 
for  the  purpose,  or  even  with  fewer,  especially  in  those 
cases  where  the  teacher  finds  it  more  practical  to  make 
the  finer  sections  for  the  students.  This  latter  statement 
may  seem  a  heresy,  and  is  so,  unless  some  form  of  neces- 
sity demands  it,  or  unless,  and  this  is  equally  to  the  pur- 
pose, the  teacher  can  really  teach  better  by  this  method. 


134  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Other  articles  contributory  to  best  work  by  the  students 
are  pipettes,  slides  and  covers,  small  rulers  (preferably 
of  celluloid),  colored  crayons,  simple  compasses,  and 
erasers. 

Apparatus  for  physiological  experimentation  is  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  equipment  of  the  modem  general  botanical 
laboratory,  though  its  amount  and  character,  beyond  a 
certain  irreducible  minimum,  must  depend  largely  upon 
the  methods  of  the  teacher.  I  have  described  apparatus 
of  all  grades  somewhat  fully  in  the  second  edition  of  my 
book,  A  Laboratory  Course  in  Plant  Physiology,  where  the 
interested  reader  will  find  ample  information.  Apparatus 
for  work  in  Plant  Physiology  is  of  several  types,  from 
precision  (used  only  in  refined  investigations),  through 
normal,  and  adapted,  to  makeshift.  The  normal  type  is 
that  which  is  made  for  its  particular  work,  and  is  appli- 
cable thereto  with  convenience  and  celerity  while  yielding 
quantitative  results  of  inconsiderable  error.  This  is  the 
kind  which  in  general  is  best  for  demonstration,  and  for 
individual  work  by  specially  interested  as  well  as  advanced 
students;  and  pieces  for  all  of  the  important  experiments 
can  now  be  purchased  from  supply  companies,  notably 
from  the  Bausch  &  Lome  Optical  Company,  which 
attempts  to  supply  not  only  such  instruments,  but  all 
supplies  and  articles  needed  for  any  work  in  Plant  Physi- 
ology. This  firm  issues  a  catalogue  of  its  apparatus  for 
plant  physiology,  descriptive  especially  of  some  eighteen 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR   EQUIPMENT  135 

pieces,  of  normal  and  demonstration  appliances,  designed 
by   myself   for  the   study    of    the    leading    physiological 
processes.     Several  instruments  are  also  supplied  by  the 
C.  S.  Stoelting  Company  of  Chicago,  and  some  others  by 
the  Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Company  of  Waverly, 
Massachusetts,  though  the  instruments  of  the  latter  firm 
are  mostly  appropriated  without  authority  or  acknowledg- 
ment from  designs  which  I  have  published.     The  adapted 
type  of  apparatus  is  that  which  is  made  up  in  the  labora- 
tory   from    approximately-suitable    articles,  —  especially 
those  manufactured  for  use  in  physics  and  chemistry,  — 
which  are  altered,  with  more  or  less  extensive  additions, 
to  fit  the  particular  purpose.     Designs  for  such  apparatus 
may  be  found  in  the  books  devoted  to  elementary  Plant 
Physiology,  while  they  are  described,  in  so  far  as  they  are 
connected  with  the  work  of  a  general  course,  in  the  second 
part  of  this  book.     Such  instruments  serve  well  for  some 
purposes  of  demonstration,  though  unlikely  to  yield  results 
of  much  accuracy.     Finally,  there  is  the  makeshift  type 
consisting  in    improvised   arrangements    of    articles    tem- 
porarily pressed  into  service.     Such  appliances  consume 
undue  energy  and  time  in   their  preparation,  require  so 
much  concentration  upon  the  working  of  the  mechanism  as 
to  leave  little  for  the  phenomena  in  the  plant,  and  finally, 
through  the  inevitable  inaccuracy  of  the  results,  inculcate 
a  wholly  wrong  ideal  of  scientific  work,  as  I  have  shown 
more  fully  in  an  earlier  part  of  this  book  (page  86).     It 


136 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


is  far  better  in  every  way  for  the  teacher  to  accumulate 
gradually  the  needful  normal  or  adapted  pieces,  and  then 
to  keep  them,  year  after  year,  in  good  order  in  suitable 

cases,  always  ready  for  immediate  and 
convenient  use.  On  the  teaching  of 
Plant  Physiology  to  large  classes,  I 
have  given  some  suggestions  in  an 
earlier  chapter,  while  the  particular 
appliances  needed  in  a  general  course 
will  be  found  described,  with  the  usual 
allowance  for  the  teacher's  individual 
methods,  in  the  second  part  of  this 
book. 

Certain  reagents,  though  in  no  great 
number,  are  needed  in  the  general 
course,  and  these  also  are  mentioned 
later.  For  liquid  reagents,  to  be  used 
in  small  quantity,  the  best  form  of 
bottle  known  to  me  is  one  in  which 
the  stopper  and  pipette  are  all  of  one 
piece,  as  shown  diagrammatically  in 
the  accompanying  Fig.  10.  Such  bottles  may  be  obtained, 
along  with  all  needed  reagents,  from  most  of  the  firms 
dealing  in  botanical  supplies,  and  of  course  may  be 
bought  from  any  of  the  many  chemical  supply  companies 
of  the  country,  —  a  list  of  which  will  be  found  towards 
the  end  of  this  chapter. 


Fig.  10.  —  Sectional 
view  of  a  good  form 
of    reagent    bottle ; 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR    EQUIPMENT  137 

Abundant  materials  in  suitable  condition  are  a  necessity 
for  good  study,  and  fortunately  these  are  not  expensive. 
They  are  partly  to  be  bought  in  the  markets  or  from 
greenhouses,  partly  collected  a  season  in  advance,  while, 
as  a  last  resort,  some  of  the  more  special  materials  may 
be  bought  from  a  botanical  supply  company.  Methods 
of  preserving  the  various  kinds  of  materials  will  be  found 
described  in  Part  II  of  this  book,  in  the  suitable  connec- 
tions. If  the  teacher  has  at  command  his  own  greenhouse 
and  gardener,  as  many  colleges  have,  he  is  fortunate.  If 
he  is  near  a  botanic  garden,  he  will  find  the  director 
ready  to  aid  him  in  anything  which  advances  botanical 
knowledge.  Commercial  greenhouses,  happily,  are  every- 
where, and  the  teacher  should  make  friends,  and  a  bargain 
in  advance,  with  the  gardener  for  such  materials  as  he 
needs,  —  bulbs,  flowers,  leaves,  plants  for  experiment, 
and  so  forth. 

Finally  there  are  many  small  articles  of  miscellaneous 
equipment,  certain  tools,  gas  jets,  balances,  gas  genera- 
tors, small  glassware,  and  other  appliances,  the  amount 
and  kinds  of  which  must  depend  upon  how  fully  the 
teacher  goes  into  the  respective  topics.  Particulars  con- 
cerning such  articles  as  are  needed,  and  their  use,  are  given 
in  the  suitable  places  in  Part  II  of  this  book,  and  if  the 
teacher  desires  further  information  upon  their  use,  he  may 
find  it  in  my  book  devoted  to  practical  Plant  Physiology. 

In  reading  these  lists  of  necessities  and  desiderata  for  the 


138  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

equipment  of  the  general  botanical  laboratory,  the  teacher 
himself  may  experience  some  measure  of  that  shock  at 
the  seeming  expense  which  always  aflflicts  the  authorities  in 
control  of  educational  expenditure.  But  there  is  this  to  be 
said,  that  in  the  first  place,  as  inspection  of  price  lists  will 
show,  the  expense  is  actually  much  less  than  seems  prob- 
able, while  in  any  event  the  cost  of  equipping  completely  a 
laboratory  is  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the  cost  of 
the  building  of  which  it  is  a  part.  In  the  second  place,  the 
equipment  is  substantially  all  permanent  and  not  likely  to 
be  superseded,  so  that  after  it  once  is  provided  it  lasts  like 
the  building  itself,  with  only  a  moderate  expense  for  main- 
tenance and  repair.  Finally,  it  need  not  all  be  purchased 
at  once,  but  may  be  added  a  part  at  a  time  until  the  out- 
fit becomes  gradually  complete.  In  any  case  the  teacher 
must  insist  upon  the  necessity  for  expenditure,  but  has  the 
advantage  of  being  able  to  say  with  assurance  that  the  re- 
sults are  well  worth  it.  One  phase  of  laboratory  expense 
is  generally  somewhat  difficult  to  adjust,  and  that  is  the 
cost  of  the  materials  (seeds,  plants,  chemicals)  actually 
used  by  the  student  in  the  course  of  laboratory  study.  In 
colleges  this  is  usually  supplied  from  a  laboratory  fee 
charged  each  student,  and  amounting  to  $5  a  year  at 
least,  and  often  more.^     But  in  schools  such  a  source  of 

^  The  justice  of  charging  a  laboratory  fee  to  students  of  the  sciences  is 
usually  supported  by  the  argument  that  such  students  are  receiving  some- 
thing which  their  fellows  in  other  departments  are  not,  and  therefore  it  is 
fair  that  they  should  pay  for  it.     There  is,  however,  another  view  which 


LABORATORIES   AND   THEIR    EQUIPMENT  139 

income  is  impossible,  and  in  its  stead  the  teacher  should 
endeavor  to  obtain  an  annual  appropriation  of  so  much 
per  student  to  meet  these  expenses. 

The  principal  firms  known  to  me  as  dealing  in  chem- 
ical supplies  in  the  United  States  are  Messrs.  Eimer  & 
Amend,  of  New  York  City :  The  Henry  Heil  Chemical 
Company,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri:  and  The  Central 
Scientific  Company,  of  Chicago,  Illinois:  while  The 
Whitall  Tatum  Company  of  New  York  makes  a  spe- 
cialty of  laboratory  glassware.  The  principal  firms 
making  a  specialty  of  biological  equipment  include  the 
Bausch  &  LoMB  Optical  Company,  of  Rochester,  New 
York,  with  its  several  branches,  as  mentioned  earlier,  on 
page  129:  The  Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Com- 
pany, of  Waverly,  Massachusetts :  Williams,  Brown,  & 
Earle,  of  Philadelphia:  The  Knott  Scientific  Appa- 
ratus Company,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts:  The  C.  H. 
Stoelting  Company,  of  Chicago:   The  Central  Scien- 

seems  to  me  more  just  and  correct.  The  necessity  for  the  use  of  materials 
in  a  science  course  is,  from  the  student's  point  of  view,  purely  adventitious, 
and  really  bears  exactly  the  same  relation  to  his  work  that  the  wear  and 
tear  on  library  books,  for  which  no  charge  is  made,  does  to  the  work  of  his 
fellows  in  the  humanities.  The  use  of  these  materials  is  absolutely  in- 
dispensable to  instruction  in  the  sciences,  and  hence  I  think  it  is  the  duty 
of  an  institution  to  provide  them  without  extra  charge  as  a  part  of  its  pro- 
vision for  good  instruction.  The  extra  charge  always  places  the  student 
of  the  sciences  at  some  disadvantage  as  compared  with  others.  In  prin- 
ciple, therefore,  I  think  the  extra  charge  is  unjustifiable,  and  if  justifiable 
at  all,  it  is  so  only  upon  the  ground  of  expediency. 


140  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

TiFic  Company,  of  Chicago:  The  Kny-Scheerer  Com- 
pany, of  New  York,  and  The  Henry  Heil  Chemical 
Company,  of  St.  Louis.  Of  firms  supplying  botanical 
material,  viz.  fresh  or  preserved  materials  for  study,  The 
Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Company,  of  Waverly, 
Massachusetts,  The  Kny-Scheerer  Company,  of  New 
York,  and  The  Woods  Hole  Biological  Laboratory, 
of  Woods  Hole,  Massachusetts,  are  the  chief  in  the  East, 
while  the  Department  of  Botany  of  Leland  Stanford 
University  (address  G.  J.  Peirce)  will  supply  such  material, 
in  season,  for  the  Pacific  coast.  The  St.  Louis  Biological 
Laboratory,  of  St.  Louis,  supplies  much  preserved  mate- 
rial. Most  of  the  seeds  needed  for  laboratory  studies  can 
be  bought  from  the  regular  seed  firms  which  exist  all 
over  the  country. 


VII.   ON  BOTANICAL  COLLECTIONS  AND 
OTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  only  sufficient  foundation  for  biological  knowledge 
is  laboratory  or  other  practical  study.  The  laboratory 
method,  however,  has  this  inherent  defect :  consisting  as  it 
must  in  the  investigation  of  a  series  of  more  or  less  iso- 
lated topics  or  types,  it  gives  a  view  of  the  plant  world 
which  is  both  discontinuous  and  deficient  in  perspective. 
In  order  that  the  full  value  of  practical  study  may  be 
utilized,  these  isolated  topics  or  types  need  to  be  located, 
united,  and  correlated  in  one  general  conception,  complete 
and  correct  as  far  as  it  goes.  To  this  end  the  various 
kinds  of  formal  instruction,  lectures,  demonstrations,  and 
so  forth,  are  indispensable;  and  these  I  have  considered 
elsewhere  in  this  book.  But  especially  valuable  is  a  com- 
prehensive survey  of  a  large  series  of  connecting  forms, 
and  such  a  survey  is  rendered  possible  only  by  the  pos- 
session of  collections  of  living  plants,  of  museum  speci- 
mens, of  models,  of  photographs,  or  of  charts.  The 
study  of  such  collections  has  no  great  educational  value 
apart  from  some  actual  laboratory  study,  but  every  topic 
thoroughly  studied  in  the  laboratory  becomes  a  center  of 

141 


142  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

illumination  for  a  circle  of  related  matters  which  then 
have  a  significance  and  interest  otherwise  entirely  lacking. 
A  good  laboratory  course  in  any  science  distributes  these 
centers  of  light  within  view  of  one  another,  so  to  speak, 
so  that  by  the  use  of  the  other  aids,  a  plain  and  safe 
passage  can  be  made  from  one  to  the  other. 

The  most  valuable  of  all  botanical  illustrations  are,  of 
course,  living  plants  growing  wild  in  their  native  homes, 
and  naturally  the  teacher  will  make  every  effort  to  utilize 
them  through  field  excursions.  But  in  practice  this  use  of 
the  native  vegetation  has  marked  limitations,  for  not  only 
are  some  of  the  most  instructive  plants  residents  only  of 
tropical  or  other  distant  parts,  but  the  native  vegetation 
is  often  impracticably  distant,  especially  from  schools  of 
the  city;  while  in  any  case  it  is  not  in  growth  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  school  and  college  year.  These  draw- 
backs are  partially  overcome  by  Botanical  Gardens,  and 
especially  by  their  greenhouses,  in  which  the  most  inter- 
esting and  scientifically-important  plants  of  all  climates 
are  brought  together  and  kept  alive,  always  suitably 
labeled  and  ready  for  study.  Such  collections  of  living 
plants,  though  of  small  worth  for  showing  the  relations  of 
the  plants  to  their  natural  surroundings,  are  invaluable 
for  their  illustration  of  structure,  morphology,  and  classifi- 
cation, and  even  of  some  important  facts  of  habit  and  adap- 
tation. The  teacher  .who  is  so  fortunate  as  to  live  within 
reach  of  a  Botanical  Garden  should  not  only  make  full  use 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  I43 

of  its  collections,  but  should  also,  for  such  profit  and  pleas- 
ure as  he  may  derive  therefrom,  make  the  acquaintance  of 
the  director. 

Botanical  Gardens  are  numerous  in  Europe,  but  com- 
paratively rare  in  this  country.  We  have  but  three  or 
four  of  the  first  rank,  which,  in  order  of  their  age,  are,  The 
Missouri  Botanical  Garden  (popularly  known,  locally  at 
least,  as  The  Shaw  Gardens),  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri: 
The  Arnold  Arboretum  (a  department  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, devoted  to  trees  and  shrubs  only),  at  Jamaica 
Plain,  Massachusetts:  The  Botanic  Gardens  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  at  Washington,  D.C. : 
The  New  York  Botanical  Garden,  at  Bronx  Park,  New 
York  City. 

Of  lesser  size  but  similar  aims  are  the  botanical  gardens 
maintained  by  several  of  the  leading  universities  or  colleges, 
notably  (in  approximate  order  of  age)  those  of  Harvard 
University,  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts :  of  the  Michigan 
Agricultural  College,  near  Lansing,  Michigan:  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  at  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania: 
of  Mount  Holyoke  College,  at  South  Hadley,  Massachusetts : 
of  Smith  College,^  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts :  of  the 

'  It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  be  able  to  develop  this  garden,  with 
its  unusually  fine  range  of  greenhouses,  along  the  lines  which  have  seemed 
to  me  most  suitable  for  botanical  education.  It  now  represents  very 
nearly  my  ideal  of  an  efficient  equipment  for  the  use  of  a  college.  There 
is  a  description  of  its  plan,  now  somewhat  antiquated,  however,  in  Garden 
and  Forest,  10,  1897,  512.      The  greenhouses  in  particular  (The  Lyman 


144  '^HE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

University  of  California,  at  Berkeley,  California:  of  the 
University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan:  of 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  at  Baltimore,  Maryland: 
while  Leland  Stanford  University,  of  Leland  Stanford, 
California,  has  a  beginning  in  an  arboretum,  and  the 
University  of  Minnesota,  at  Minneapolis,  Minnesota,  is 
about  to  develop  its  small  garden  to  a  much  larger  one. 
Many  of  the  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experiment  Stations 
have  experimental  gardens  which  in  some  cases  approxi- 
mate towards  botanical  gardens,  and  at  least  two  cities 
maintain  botanical  gardens  of  a  really  scientific  character, 
viz.  Buffalo,  New  York,  in  the  Buffalo  Botanical  Garden, 
and  San  Francisco  in  Golden  Gate  Park.  These  genuine 
botanical  gardens  (whose  distinguishing  feature  may  be 
taken  to  consist  in  a  deliberate  grouping,  as  well  as  label- 
ing, of  the  plants  to  illustrate  some  scientific  idea  in  classi- 
fication, distribution,  or  habit)  merge  without  break  into 
certain  public  gardens,  especially  those  which  are  provided 
with  conservatories,  as  in  the  case  of  Schcnley  Park,  Pitts- 
burg, and  thence  downward  through  others  in  which  the 

Plant  Houses,  a  memorial  gift)  are  described,  though  without  some  of  the 
latest  additions,  in  Science,  15,  1902,  933,  while  the  Physiological  Experi- 
ment House  and  Laboratory  are  described  and  pictured  in  the  second 
edition  of  my  Laboratory  Course  in  Plant  Physiology. 

There  is  an  admirable  summary  account  of  the  greater  Botanical 
Gardens  of  the  world,  including  those  of  this  country,  by  N.  L.  Britton 
in  the  Bulletin  of  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden,  i,  1897,  ^2,  while  a 
symposium  on  Botanical  Gardens  from  different  points  of  view,  is  in 
Science,  31,  1910,  641,  and  a  later  number. 


BOTANICAL    COLLECTIONS  I45 

trees  and  shrubs  are  merely  labeled  as  they  happen  to 
stand,  as  in  the  Public  Gardens  at  Boston. 

Where  no  greenhouses  of  Botanical,  or  Public,  Gardens 
are  available,  the  teacher  can  sometimes  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  owner  of  a  priA'ate  greenhouse,  who  will  gen- 
erally be  found  willing  to  allow  its  use  for  educational  pur- 
poses, and  even  may  consent  to  accumulate  some  of  the 
more  interesting  plants ;  for  people  with  the  taste  for  grow- 
ing exotic  plants  usually  desire  to  make  them  as  widely 
useful  as  possible.  And  when  even  this  resource  is  want- 
ing, something  can  be  done  with  window  gardens,  which, 
indeed,  when  the  conditions  are  favorable,  can  be  made 
both  useful  and  attractive.  Upon  this  subject  I  am  for- 
tunate in  being  r,ble  to  present  the  following  sugges- 
tions, written  for  this  book  by  Mr.  Edward  J.  Can- 
ning, the  experienced  head  gardener  of  Smith  College.^ 

The  successful  growing  of  plants  in  windows,  especially 
in  a  laboratory  or  schoolroom,  requires  more  care  than  in  an 
ordinary  greenhouse,  because  of  the  dryness  of  the  atmos- 
phere, the  fluctuations  of  temperature,  the  exposure  to 
drafts,  and  the  uneven  or  one-sided  light.  Nevertheless, 
with  intelUgent  and  daily  attention  in  the  matters  of  ventila- 
tion and  watering,  good  plants  can  be  grown,  especially  as  it 
happens,  by  good  fortune,  that  the  majority  of  plants  of 
most  value  for  teaching  purposes  are  generally  of  easy  culture. 

*  There  are  also  valuable  articles  upon  this  subject  in  accessible  publi- 
cations, by  J.  W.  Harshberger  in  Education,  18,  1898,  555;  by  H.  D. 
Hemexway,  in  a  Bulletin  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  (may 
be  had  on  application),  and  by  F.  K.  Balthis,  in  the  Nature  Study  Re- 
view, 4,  1908,  276. 

L 


146  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

The  Windows.  —  Plants  do  best  in  windows  which  face 
the  east,  because  thus  they  receive  the  earliest  Hght  of  the 
sun,  which  is  the  best  for  their  food  making,  while  they  are 
not  exposed  to  its  concentrated  rays  at  midday.  For  eastern 
windows,  shades  are  not  needed,  but  for  southern  and  west- 
ern windows  these  must  be  provided  (white  are  best),  in 
order  to  screen  the  plants  during  the  hottest  part  of  the  day. 
Windows  of  a  northern  aspect  are  best  for  ferns  and  other 
shade-loving  plants.  Bay  windows  are  better  than  ordinary 
windows,  because  they  admit  more  light  and  can  generally  be 
more  evenly  ventilated. 

Ventilation.  —  Cold  drafts  of  air  are  injurious  if  not  fatal 
to  most  plants;  therefore,  air  should  be  admitted  with  the 
greatest  caution.  When  it  is  necessary  to  ventilate  on  cold 
days,  air  should  be  admitted  sparingly,  from  the  top  of  the 
window,  so  that  the  plants  will  not  be  subject  to  sudden 
changes  of  temperature,  one  result  of  which  is  the  develop- 
ment of  disease. 

Shelves. : —  One  good  shelf,  one  foot  in  width,  is  all  that 
any  ordinary  window  should  have.  Cypress  boards  of  about 
one  inch  in  thickness,  and  painted,  will  be  found  the  most 
durable  if  wood  is  used.  Zinc  trays,  of  one  and  one  half 
inches  in  depth  and  made  to  fit  the  shelves,  should  be  pro- 
vided. These  should  be  filled  to  half  their  depth  with  either 
fine  gravel  or  crushed  stone,  so  that  the  surplus  moisture 
may  pass  away  readily  from  the  pots  without  running  over 
the  floor,  while  at  the  same  time  this  arrangement  provides 
for  a  constant  evaporation  of  some  moisture  in  the  air  around 
the  plants.  The  gravel  or  crushed  stone  prevents  the  pots 
from  actually  standing  in  the  water,  which  for  many  kinds 
is  so  fatal  to  the  plants. 

Flower  Pots  and  Boxes.  —  Boxes  of  about  ten  inches  in 
depth,  made  to  fit  the  window  and  filled  with  soil  in  which 
the  plants  are  set  out,  are  often  used.  They  have  the  ad- 
vantage that  the  moisture  conditions  of  the  soil  can  be  kept 
more  even,  and  with  much  less  attention,  than  in  the  case  of 
plants  grown  in  pots;  but  there  is  a  disadvantage  in  that 
the  plants  cannot  be  moved  about  as  readily.  For  purposes 
of  study,  therefore,  pots  are,  upon  the  whole,  preferable, 
though  for  kinds  not  needing  to  be  moved  boxes  are  better. 


BOTAxNICAL   COLLECTIOxNS  I47 

Soil.  —  A  good  fibrous  loam  to  which  some  leaf  mold 
and  sand  have  been  added  will  suit  the  great  majority  of 
window  plants.  This  can  be  obtained  from  the  nearest  gar- 
dener or  florist. 

Watering.  —  It  may  not  be  necessary  to  water  plants 
every  day,  but  it  is  necessary  to  examine  the  moisture  con- 
dition of  the  soil  that  often.  As  a  general  rule,  soil  should 
be  moist  but  not  saturated,  and  the  more  evenly  the  soil 
moisture  can  be  maintained  the  better  the  plants  will  grow. 
In  winter,  the  morning  is  the  best  time  for  watering,  and 
the  water  should  have  about  the  same  temperature  as  the 
room  in  which  the  plants  are  grown,  which  can  be  insured 
by  taking  the  water  not  from  a  tap,  but  from  a  vessel  kept 
standing  for  the  purpose  near  the  plants. 

Plants  and  Seeds  and  Bulbs.  —  Most  of  the  ordinary 
greenhouse  plants  may  be  grown  in  windows,  but  for  teach- 
ing purposes  a  selection  of  those  best  adapted  to  scientific 
study  should  be  made.  This  does  not  mean  a  collection  of 
rare  plants,  but,  on  the  contrary  (with  the  exception  of  plants 
used  in  the  study  of  ecology),  the  commonest,  most  easily 
grown,  and  most  easily  obtained  from  almost  any  florist. 
The  following  are  lists  of  plants  which  at  Smith  College  we 
have  found  best  adapted  to  the  various  phases  of  scientific 
work.  All  of  them  may  be  grown  in  window  gardens,  and 
some  of  them  are  very  attractive  aside  from  their  scientific 
uses. 

I.  Plants  well  adapted  for  Experimental  Plant  Physiology. 
—  Abutilon,  Begonia  coccinea.  Cineraria,  Cestrum,  Coleus, 
English  Ivy,  Fuchsia,  Garden  Nasturtium,  "  Geraniums " 
(Common  Horseshoe,  Lady  Washington,  Ivy  Leaf),  German 
Ivy,  Heliotrope,  Impatiens,  Marguerite,  Oxalis  Bowiei,  Pas- 
sion Vine,  Primroses  (P.  obconica  and  P.  sinensis).  Rubber 
Plant,  Salvia  involucrata,  Senecio  Petasitis,  Spiderwort, 
Wandering  Jew. 

II.  Plants  best  adapted  for  the  Study  of  Ecology.  —  Since 
these  plants  are  not  showy,  but,  with  the  exception  of  Smilax, 
are  of  scientific  interest  only,  they  are  not  grown  by  the 
ordinary  florist,  and  can  only  be  obtained  from  Botanical 
Gardens  or  other  scientific  institutions. 

Acacia  cultriformis,  A.  longifoHa,  A.  melanoxylon,  Aspara- 


148  THE    TEACHING    BOTANIST 

gus  medeoloides  (Smilax),  Carmichaelia  australis,  Casaurina 
distylia,  CoUetia  cruciata,  Danae  Laurus,  Ephedra  distachya, 
Genista  sagittalis,  Muehlenbeckia  platyclados,  Oxalis  bu- 
pleurifolia,  Phyllanthus  latifolius,  H^-poglossum,  Senecio  arti- 
culatus,  some  of  the  Cactaceae  and  Euphorbias. 

III.  Seeds  excellent  for  the  Study  of  Germination,  etc.  — 
They  may  be  obtained  of  ahuost  any  seedsman,  and  can  be 
germinated  either  in  soil  or  sphagnum  moss. 

Barley,  Buckwheat,  Castor  Beans,  Corn  (field),  Horse 
Beans  (English),  Lupine  (White),  Morning  Glory,  Mustard, 
Garden  Nasturtium  (dwarf),  Oats,  Radish,  Squash  (Hub- 
bard), String  Beans,  Golden  Wax  (or  horticultural),  Sun- 
flower, Tomato,  Wheat. 

IV.  Bulbs  useful  for  the  Study  of  Flowers.  —  These  are 
very  attractive  as  well.  They  can  be  grown  and  flowered 
in  windows,  and  may  be  obtained  from  seedsmen  or  florists. 

Allium  neapolitanum,  Amaryllis  Johnstoni,  Arisaema  tri- 
phyllum  ( Jack-in-the-Pulpit) ,  Calla,  Crocus,  Freesia,  Galan- 
thus  (Snowdrop),  Hyacinths  (Grape,  Roman,  Dutch),  Nar- 
cissus (Paper  White,  Von  Sion  single),  SciUa  sibirica,  TuUp 
(early  single- flowering  variety). 

V.  Ferns  excellent  for  Study.  —  These  may  be  grown  in 
windows,  preferably  of  a  north  or  northeastern  aspect,  and 
may  be  obtained  of  florists. 

Asplenium  bulbiferum,  Cyrtomium  falcatum,  Dicksonia 
antarctica,  Gymnogramma  sulphurea  (Gold  Fern),  Polypo- 
dium  incanum,  Polystichum  aureum,  Pteris  cretica  albo- 
lineata,  Nephrodium  effusum,  Nephrolepis  exaltata  (Sword 
Fern). 

A  special  kind  of  educational  garden  *  now  attaining  to 
much  prominence  in  this  country  is  the  school  garden, 

^  The  grounds  of  almost  any  school,  and  certainly  those  of  any  college, 
can  be  given  something  of  the  usefulness  of  a  botanical  garden  by  labeling 
the  trees  and  shrubs;  and  this,  indeed,  from  any  point  of  view,  is  well 
worth  doing.  There  are  many  kinds  of  labels,  though  none  are  wholly 
satisfactory ;  but,  after  much  experience,  I  have  fixed  upon  the  following  as 
combining  in  the  optimum  degree  the  merits  of  legibility,  durability,  in- 
conspicuousness,  convenience,  and  cheapness.     It  is  of  good  zinc,  about 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  1 49 

which  may  be  of  any  grade  from  that  approaching  a 
botanical  garden  down  to  the  summer  farming  of  vacant 

5  by  i^  inches,  and  g^  inch  thick,  with  two  holes  at  one  end  as  in  the  fig- 
ure (Fig.  11) ;  and  it  can  be  made  at  small  cost  by  any  tinman.  The  name 
is  written  or  printed  with  a  pen,  using  platinum  chloride,  five  per  cent 
solution,  as  an  ink,  upon  a  freshly  sandpapered  surface ;  and  the  writing 


o      ULMU5  AMERICAN;^ 

Aweiican  Elm 

o     \jytic.  N.E.  North  Aynaica. 


Fig.  II.  —  A  good  form  of  label  for  trees  and  shrubs;  about  |  the 

original  size. 

turns  blacker  with  time.  Better  than  an  ordinary  pen  is  a  piece  of  glass 
tubing  drawn  to  a  smoothed  capillary  point,  and  held  horizontally.  A 
good  label  should  give  the  scientific  and  common  names  of  the  plant,  its 
native  home,  and  an  abbreviation  for  the  name  of  the  family,  as  shown 
by  the  figure.  For  trees,  the  label  is  bent  to  the  curvature  of  the  trunk  at  a 
selected  place  and  fastened  horizontally,  at  about  the  height  of  the  eyes, 
by  two  galvanized  iron  tacks  (two  instead  of  one  to  prevent  sagging) 
driven  through  the  holes,  —  a  method  which  is  much  better  than  that  of 
a  nail  at  each  end,  since  the  expansion  of  the  tree  soon  pulls  these  out. 
For  trees  under  three  inches  diameter  the  label  should  be  hung  by  a  loop 
of  wire  on  a  lower  branch  close  to  the  trunk,  while  on  shrubs  it  should  hang 
on  a  convenient  outer  branch.  At  the  contact  of  wire  and  zinc  a  black 
substance  is  released,  which  tends  to  run  down  and  deface  the  writing,  but 
this  is  stopped  if  the  end  of  the  label  containing  the  holes  and  wire  is 
turned  over  backwards.  Two  holes  are  better  than  one  as  making  less 
wear  when  the  label  moves  in  the  wind.  The  same  label  can  also  be  used  for 
herbaceous  plants  if  attached  to  a  support  of  pine  or  cypress,  or  to  an  iron 
rod  stuck  in  the  ground.  Since  the  expansion  of  the  trees  and  shrubs 
tends  to  bury  the  nails  and  wire,  these  must  be  loosened  up  every  year  or 
two,  a  matter  that  is  not  difficult  if  a  certain  time  is  set  aside  for  it.  The 
platinum  chloride  ink  is  rather  expensive  (costing  about  $1.20  per  ounce), 


150  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

lots  by  city  children.  Whatever  the  grade,  such  gardens 
are  of  great  value,  and  must  repay  many  fold  their  cost,  not 
only  in  botanical  and  practical  instruction,  but  in  moral 
influence;  and  their  formation  cannot  be  too  highly  urged. 
The  details  of  this  subject,  however,  belong  rather  with 
a  consideration  of  the  nature  study  of  the  lower  grades 
than  with  the  scientific  course  of  the  high  school  and 
college,  with  which  this  book  primarily  deals ;  and  it  must 
suffice  if  I  give  here  in  a  note  the  references  which  will 
enable  the  teacher  to  follow  up  the  subject  if  needed.^ 

and  a  much  cheaper  and  nearly  as  good  ink  can  be  made  thus:  2  parts  ace- 
tate of  copper,  2  of  ammonium  chloride,  i  of  lamp  black,  and  30  of  soft 
water.  There  is  an  excellent  account  of  labels  and  their  use  under  that 
word  in  Bailey's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Horticulture. 

*  There  is  a  book  devoted  to  this  subject,  How  to  make  School  Gar- 
dens, by  H.  D.  Hemenway  (New  York,  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  1903). 
An  article  by  H.  L.  Clapp,  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly  for  Feb- 
ruary, 1898,  describes  a  very  successful  school  garden  in  Boston,  and 
illustrates  how  much  may  be  accomplished  even  with  limited  space  and 
means.  Some  very  practical  material  is  in  L.  H.  Bailey's  Lessons  with 
Plants,  and  especially  in  his  Garden  Making;  and  there  is  an  excellent 
little  leaflet  (No.  4  of  the  Nature  Study  Leaflets)  on  children's  gardens, 
published  by  Cornell  University,  and  an  excellent  report  on  school  gar- 
dens, published  by  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society  in  1900. 
A  highly  commended  article  upon  Tree  Planting  on  rural  school  grounds 
is  published  by  the  government  as  Farmer's  Bulletin,  No.  134,  while  Cir- 
cular 42  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  is  also  important.  In  this,  as 
in  so  many  other  respects,  Europe  is  much  in  advance  of  this  country,  and 
German  experience  is  well  set  forth  in  a  book,  Der  Schulgarten  des  In-  und 
Auslandes,  by  B.  Cronberger,  published  at  Frankfurt-a-M.,  in  1898 
(cost  2.80  marks),  while  there  is  also  a  special  United  States  Consular 
Report  (Vol.  20,  Part  H,  159-224)  on  school  gardens  in  Europe,  of  which 
there  is  a  good  review  and  synopsis  in  the  Scientific  American,  October  27, 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  151 

Next  in  value  to  living  plants  are  prepared  specimens, 
especially  those  made  to  look  as  much  like  life  as  possible. 
The  collection  and  arrangement  of  such  specimens  is 
the  function  of  museums.  Unhappily,  there  is  no  known 
method  of  preserving  plants  in  their  natural  forms  and 
colors  as  is  possible  with  so  many  animals;  though  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  possible  to  preserve  plants,  when 
pressed  and  dried,  with  a  cheapness,  compactness,  and 
accessibility  far  exceeding  anything  possible  with  animals. 
Hence  it  comes  about  that  there  are  many  great  collections 
of  dried  plants  (herbaria)  and  but  few  great  botanical  mu- 
seums. Even  in  Europe  botanical  museums  are  scarce 
and  of  minor  interest,  and  in  America  there  are  as  yet  but 
two  of  any  account,  that  of  the  New  York  Botanical  Gar- 
den, at  Bronx  Park,  New  York  City,  which  is  far  in  ad- 
vance of  any  other  in  this  country,  and  that  of  Harvard 
University,  which  owes  its  interest  chiefly  to  the  success 
with  which  the  living  plants,  including  flowers,  have  been 
imitated  by  glass  models  of  the  most  natural  form,  size, 
and  color.^     Most  colleges,  however,  in  the  course  of  their 

1900,  259.  A  special  study  is  being  made  of  this  subject  under  the  best 
of  conditions  by  the  School  of  Horticulture  of  the  Handicrafts  School 
of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  especially  by  the  ]MacDonald  College  of 
Ste.  Anne  de  BelleN-ue,  Canada,  while  many  articles  bearing  upon  the 
subject  are  contained  in  the  volumes  of  the  Nature  Study  Review,  a 
valuable  journal  of  which  particulars  may  be  found  in  the  chapter  on 
Books. 

*  This  collection  of  models,  the  Ware  Memorial  Collection,  was  made 
by  Leopold  and  Rudolph  Blaschka,  of  Dresden,  Germany.     It  has 


152 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


educational  work,  develop  small  museums,  or  at  least 
teaching  collections,  and  these  are  of  such  value  that  every 
teacher,  whether  of  school  or  college,  should  aim  to  possess 
one.  A  good  specimen,  once  suitably  prepared  and  pre- 
served for  demonstration,  is  a  valuable  permanent  posses- 
sion, well  worth  all  the  trouble  expended  upon  it. 

The  hard  parts  of  plants,  such  as  dry  fruits,  woody 
stems,  skeletons  of  leaves,  and  the  like,  are  best  preserved 
dry,  as  indeed  the  entire  plants  themselves  may  be,  in  the 
herbaria  of  which  I  shall  speak  presently.  But  the  softer 
parts  can  be  kept  only  in  some  preservative  liquid,  though 
none  is  known  which  will  keep  color  well.  A  solution  of 
four  per  cent  formaline  in  water  will  preserve  colors  as 
well  as  any,  but  it  keeps  some  much  better  than  others, 
while  it  allows  the  important  green  tissues  to  become  of  a 
translucent  unnatural  shade,  which  is  hardly  worth 
while.^    In  my  own  collections  I  use  a  mixture  of  two  per 

attracted  wide  attention  for  its  great  accuracy  and  beauty  of  execution. 
A  full  account  of  it  is  given  by  Walter  Deane,  in  the  Botanical  Gazette, 
19,  1894,  144.  One  of  the  curators  of  the  British  Museum  has  said  of  it, 
"No  other  museum  possesses  anything  half  so  beautiful."  It  is  unique, 
and  by  contract  with  the  makers  no  part  of  it  is  to  be  duplicated. 

*  If  one  wishes  to  try  to  preserve  the  green  color  by  other  methods  he 
may  consult  to  advantage  an  article  by  A.  F.  Woods,  in  the  Botanical 
Gazette,  24,  1897,  206.  I  am  told  by  Mr.  A.  E.  Collens,  of  the  Govern- 
ment Laboratory,  Trinidad,  that  the  addition  of  a  small  amount  of  copper 
sulphate  solution  to  the  dilute  alcohol  or  formaline,  often  aids  much  in 
preserving  the  green  color  of  plants. 

Detailed  and  valuable  directions  for  the  use  of  formaline  as  a  preserva- 
tive for  museum  specimens  of  botanical  objects  are  given  by  G.  E.  Stone, 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIOIvfS  1 53 

cent  formaline  in  thirty  per  cent  alcohol,  which  preserves 
the  softest  tissues  perfectly  in  every  respect  except  color, 
which  it  blanches  to  a  nearly  uniform  dull  white.  For- 
maline is  used  in  such  small  quantities  that  it  is  really  very 
cheap,  while  denatured  alcohol,  which  is  equal  to  the  best 
for  this  purpose,  is  now  sold  at  a  price  not  over  one  dollar 
a  gallon.  The  best  grade  of  alcohol,  however,  may  be 
bought  by  schools  and  colleges  free  of  internal  revenue  tax, 
though  only  after  somewhat  complicated  legal  formalities ; 
and  this  privilege  reduces  its  price  in  quantity  to  about 
forty  cents  per  gallon. 

The  bottles  for  the  preservation  and  exhibition  of  speci- 
mens may  consist  of  one  of  the  many  forms  of  preserve 
jars,  which  have  the  merit  of  cheapness;  but  after  con- 
siderable observation  of  the  impression  produced  upon 
students  by  the  use  of  such  makeshifts,  I  am  convinced 
that  it  is  true  economy  to  buy  only  the  best  bottles,  — 
viz.  those  made  from  white  flint  glass,  with  ground- 
glass  stoppers, — not  only  for  specimens  in  liquids,  but 
also  for  dry  objects,  such  as  seeds,  which  need  some 
protecting  vessel.  Not  only  are  all  specimens  thus  made 
permanently  safe  from  evaporation  and  dust,  but  the  re- 
spect of  the  students  is  far  greater  for  a  compact,  artis- 

in  the  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy,  2,  1899,  537,  and  there  is  an  im- 
portant article  by  H.  S.  Reed  upon  the  preparation  of  museum  specimens 
of  plants  in  the  same  journal,  5,  1902,  1885.  Many  practical  direc- 
tions upon  the  preservation  of  plant  material,  especially  for  laboratory  use, 
are  given  by  F.  E.  Lloyd  in  his  Teaching  of  Botany,  222. 


154 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


tically  presented  specimen  than  for  one  in  a  green  leaky 
jar  or  a  dusty  box,  and  hence  its  value  to  him  is  greater. 
The  teacher,  too,  is  more  likely  to  accumulate  only  things 
of  value  if  the  receptacles  must  be  economized.  For  a 
collection  of  my  own  I  prefer  a  dozen  such  specimens  to 
thrice  that  number  indifferently  prepared.  I  have  ex- 
perimented with  several  forms  of  bottles,  and  finally  have 
fixed  upon  Whitall  &  Tatum's  (Boston  and  New  York) 
No.  2605  specimen  jars,  which  may  be  had  in  all  sizes, 
and  for  which  their  published  prices  are  subject  to  large 
discounts.  I  prefer  the  appearance  of  these  to  that  of  the 
kinds  without  a  neck,  and  they  are  about  equally  use- 
ful. But,  of  course,  if  one  cannot  afford  the  better  grade, 
some  of  the  many  forms  of  preserve  jars  will  do  very  wtII, 
and  are  far  better  than  nothing  at  all.  For  dry  objects, 
such  as  seeds  or  powders,  a  very  satisfactory  and  inexpen- 
sive bottle  is  the  inverted  test  tube  with  a  wide-flaring 
mouth  serving  as  a  foot,  manufactured  in  two  or  three 
sizes  by  the  Whitall  &  Tatum  Company  of  New  York. 
A  cylindrical  cork  stopper  is  inserted  at  the  bottom,  and 
holds  a  label  closely  against  the  glass.  Another  very  excel- 
lent and  economical  container  for  dry  objects  has  recently 
been  described  by  G.  L.  Goodale.^  It  is  made  from  lan- 
tern slide  glass  attached  by  glue  over  a  frame  of  pre- 

'  In  America)!  Journal  of  Science,  21,  1906,  451.  A  somewhat  similar 
arrangement  is  described  by  H.  L.  Osborn  in  the  Journal  of  Applied 
Microscopy,  3,  1900,  1053. 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  1 55 

pared  wooden  strips  made  tight  by  hard  paraffin,  the 
whole  being  finally  secured,  on  the  passe-partout  principle, 
by  glued  strips.  In  whatever  manner  prepared,  however, 
every  specimen  should  be  in  condition  to  be  handled  and 
passed  about.  Tight,  upright,  glass-fronted  wall  cases 
should  be  provided  for  the  museum  collection,  and  it  is  well 
to  have  all  specimens  very  fully  labeled  and  carefully  ar- 
ranged in  order  that  they  may  be  as  instructive  as  possible 
when  not  actually  in  class  use.  In  other  words,  the  speci- 
mens should  represent  not  only  a  collection  useful  in  teach- 
ing, but  part  of  a  school  or  college  museum  of  general  in- 
terest. In  any  museum  collection  whatever,  the  great 
guiding  principle  should  be  selection,  not  accumulation; 
and  in  plan  and  labeling  the  famous  dictum  of  Goode  ^ 
should  be  remembered,  that  the  modern  museum  is  a  col- 
lection of  labels  illustrated  by  specimens.  The  teaching 
collection  need  have  no  formal  beginning;  but  as  speci- 
mens from  one  source  and  another  are  obtained,  they 
should  be  suitably  prepared  and  added.     There  are  as 

•  There  are  valuable  papers  on  Museum  making,  by  G.  Brown 
Goode,  in  Science,  2,  1895,  197,  and  3,  1896,  154,  and  there  is  a  very  elab- 
orate and  well-illustrated  series  of  articles  on  the  subject  by  L.  P.  Grata- 
CAP,  in  Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy,  \'^ols.  5  and  6,  1902-1903.  Par- 
ticularly apposite  and  most  valuable,  though  I  cannot  agree  with  all  of 
its  recommendations,  is  J.  M.  Macfarlane's  "The  Organization  of 
Botanical  Museums  for  Schools,  Colleges,  and  Universities,"  in  Bio- 
logical  Lectures  delivered  at  the  Marine  Biological  Laboratory  at  Woods 
Holl  in  i8q4  (Boston,  Ginn  &  Co.).  Of  much  suggestiveness  is  Boyd 
Dawkixs's  address  on  the  Place  of  Museums,  in  Nature,  46,  1S92,  280. 


156  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

yet  no  firms  in  this  country  offering  for  sale  considerable 
numbers  of  museum  specimens  of  plants  such  as  are  offered 
of  animals,  though  there  are  several  in  Europe. 

The  teaching  collection  should  be  arranged  upon  a  defi- 
nite plan  carrying  out  a  central  idea,  for  thus  the  specimens, 
while  losing  nothing  of  their  individual  value  and  interest, 
become  elements  in  the  composition  of  a  picture  of  that 
subject  as  a  unit.  There  are  two  distinct  ideas  which  may 
underlie  the  plan  of  the  collection,  viz.  that  of  structure- 
function  (leading  facts  of  morphology,  including  anatomy, 
and  of  physiology,  including  ecology),  and  that  of  classifica- 
tion (the  groups  of  plants  in  their  natural  relationships 
from  Algae  to  Spermatophytes).  Since  these  two  ideas 
represent  the  two  usual  points  of  view  of  the  plant  kingdom, 
it  is  best,  especially  in  a  public  museum,  that  both  be 
represented.  The  first  impression,  that  this  is  uneconomi- 
cal because  involving  duplication,  is  not  correct,  since  in 
fact  the  structure-function  idea  involves  chiefly  selected 
parts  of  plants,  while  the  classification  idea  requires  the 
entire  plants.  So  far  as  the  teaching  collection  is  con- 
cerned, however,  the  best  plan,  I  believe,  is  to  make  it 
correspond  with  the  plan  of  the  course  itself,  and  if,  as 
recommended  in  the  second  part  of  this  book,  the  course 
comprises  both  structure-function  and  classification,  then 
the  collection  can  follow  the  plan  which  is  best  both  in 
principle  and  practice.  Moreover,  the  physiological  ap- 
pliances,  suitably   explained   by   labels,   can    well    form, 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS 


157 


when  not  in  use,  an  integral  part  of  the  museum,  being 
inserted  at  the  places  answering  to  their  place  of  use  in 
the  course. 

Labels  are  an  essential  feature  of  a  collection,  and  they 
should  be  neat,  permanent,  and  firmly  attached  to  the 


THE  BOTANICAL  MUSEUM  OF  SMITH  COLLEGE 

D'iv/si"on  I .    Adaptations  .  to 
E.  Dissemination, by 

peed.'o ,    tkroi/^k  a^encu  aj 
Wind,  acting  upon 
Wings,  wkick  axi- 

OutgrowtK  oj  Seed- coat 


WmgecL  Seeds    ol  Tecoma.  radican^ 


Fig.  12. — Sample  Museum  Label. 

specimens  or  their  bottles/  Such  attached  labels  hardly 
allow  room  for  more  than  the  most  indispensable  facts, 
and  moreover  they  are,  as  a  rule,  not  legible  when  the  speci- 
mens are  in  their  cases.  Hence  it  is  well  to  have  also  a 
larger  exhibition  label  which  need  never  be  taken  from  the 

'  A  glass-stoppered  bottle  can  be  easily  labeled  by  writing  in  pencil 
upon  the  ground  surface  of  the  stopper;  the  writing  will  show  clearly 
through  the  neck  of  the  bottle.  Or  the  label  may  be  written  on  the  outside 
of  the  bottle  with  waterproof  India  ink,  which  should  then  be  covered 
with  a  thin  layer  of  Canada  balsam,  or  else  with  hard  paraffin  applied  hot. 
If  written  in  pencil,  a  label  may  be  placed  in  the  liquid  with  the  specimen. 


158  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

case ;  this  should  give  legibly  the  important  facts  about  the 
specimen,  with  data  to  show  its  place  in  the  plan  of  the 
collection.  This  subject  I  can  best  illustrate  by  the  ac- 
companying sample.  It  is  well  worth  while  to  have  a 
printed  heading,  as  in  the  sample,  for  this  is  one  of  the 
means  of  promoting  that  spirit  of  care,  permanence,  and 
pride  of  possession  which  is  so  potent  a  stimulus  to  the 
development  of  a  worthy  collection. 

Plants  may  be  preserved,  as  everybody  knows,  by  press- 
ing them  between  absorbent  papers  until  dry,  and  then 
mounting  them  upon  sheets  of  stiff  paper ;  and  a  collection 
of  such  dried  plants  is  universally  known  as  an  Herbarium. 
Theoretically  an  herbarium  is  part  of  a  botanical  museum, 
but  on  accoimt  of  the  form  of  the  specimens,  they  are 
usually  kept  stored  in  portfolio-like  covers,  though  some- 
times a  few  of  this  sort  are  displayed  like  pictures  behind 
glass.  For  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  flora,  that  is,  the 
species  of  plants  collectively,  of  any  region,  an  herbarium 
of  the  usual  systematic  type  is  simply  indispensable;  but 
in  a  teaching  collection  it  has  less  utility.  But  the  question 
arises  whether  the  ease  of  preparation,  cheapness,  and 
compactness  of  the  herbarium  method  cannot  be  utilized 
in  the  formation  of  a  collection  to  illustrate  a  part  at  least 
of  the  facts  ordinarily  taught  in  a  general  course,  especially 
the  facts  of  morphology,  adaptation,  and  the  forms  of 
plants  in  the  different  groups.  I  have  myself  experi- 
mented a  good  deal  upon  this  subject,  with  the  conclusion 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  159 

that  an  herbarium  of  the  greatest  usefulness  can  be  de- 
veloped upon  the  plan  outlined  above  for  the  teaching 
collection;  and  indeed  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  where 
means,  room,  or  policy  do  not  admit  of  exhibition  cases, 
or  where  the  collection  is  the  personal  property  of  an  in- 
dividual and  needs  to  be  easily  transported,  the  herbarium 
upon  this  plan  may  actually  be  superior  to  the  museum. 
Every  specimen,  of  course,  should  be  selected  to  illustrate 
some  fact,  and  only  that  part  of  the  plant  ought  to  be  used 
which  displays  it,  while  each  sheet  would  illustrate  not  a 
species  but  an  idea.  Drawings,  descriptions,  and  photo- 
graphs may  be  incorporated  with  an  herbarium  more  con- 
veniently than  with  a  museum,  and  it  is  also  possible  to 
add  many  objects  in  envelopes,  flat  boxes,  or  even  small 
bottles  attached  to  the  sheets,  which  offer,  incidentally, 
ideal  opportunities  for  good  labeling.  An  obvious  draw- 
back to  the  herbarium,  that  its  specimens  are  not  adapted 
to  exhibition,  can  be  overcome  by  a  method  of  which 
mention  has  already  been  made,  viz.  placing  the  sheets 
under  glass  in  frames  and  hanging  or  othtTwise  using 
them  like  framed  pictures.  The  frames  should  be  hung 
by  screw  eyes  upon  hooks  in  the  wall  so  as  to  be  readily 
taken  down,  and  if  the  backs  are  easily  removable, 
the  sheets  may  frequently  be  changed  to  accord  with 
the  topics  under  study  by  the  class.  In  my  own  labora- 
tory there  hangs  a  series  of  some  thirty  such  frames, 
containing  sheets  in  illustration  of  the  principal  facts  of 


l6o  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

external  morphology  and  adaptation ;  and  they  prove  not 
only  valuable  for  instruction,  but  are  of  much  general 
interest  as  well.  A  photograph  of  two  of  the  sheets 
is  given  herewith  (Plate  II).  Instead  of  the  somewhat 
hea\7'  glass  and  frames  one  may  use  transparent  celluloid 
(or  xylonite),  bound,  by  means  of  adhesive  paper  tape, 
on  the  passe-partout  principle,  to  a  back  of  stiff  cardboard, 
such  as  photographers'  mounting  cards.  ^  Such  prepara- 
tions have  the  advantage  over  the  frames  of  greater  safety 
and  convenience  when  passed  around  the  class,  and  more- 
over, they  may  be  made  in  any  desired  sizes,  even  to  in- 
cluding single  small  objects,  and  may  very  readily  be 
incorporated  into  the  museum,  or  even  the  herbarium, 
collection. 

The  usual  herbarium  methods  are  those  to  be  used  in  the 
preparation  of  the  teaching  or  exhibition  herbarium.  In 
drying  the  specimens  the  object  is  to  extract  their  mois- 
ture as  rapidly  and  perfectly  as  possible  without  allowing 
them  to  curl  or  crinkle.  To  effect  this,  the  plants  are  first 
arranged  in  thin,  porous  specimen  sheets  which  are  then 
placed  between  layers  of  absorbent  driers  (i.e.  special 
felt  papers,  blotting  papers,  or  even  newspapers),  and  these 
driers  are  then  changed  as  often  as  practicable,  —  at  least 

'  This  method  is  described  by  F.  E.  Lloyd  in  Torreya,  2,  1902,  40, 
and  very  fully,  in  his  Teaching  of  Botany,  227.  The  same  principle,  but 
using  thin  glass  instead  of  celluloid,  is  employed  in  the  Rikee  Botanical 
Mount,  supplied  in  all  sizes  ready  for  use  by  The  Hexry  Heil  Chemical 
Company,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 


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BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  l6l 

twice  a  day  for  the  first  two  days  and  once  a  day  until  the 
plants  are  dry.  In  general  the  faster  the  drying  the  more 
natural  is  the  appearance  of  the  resulting  specimen,  es- 
pecially as  to  color.  Meanwhile  the  plants  are  kept  under 
pressure  (applied  either  by  screw  or  other  presses,  or  by 
boards  and  weights),  which  should  be  as  great  as  the  tis- 
sues will  stand  without  being  crushed,  and  which,  therefore, 
should  be  increased  as  they  become  drier.  Such  is  in 
brief  the  principle  of  the  older  method,  but  in  recent  years, 
in  order  to  expedite  the  drying,  it  has  become  usual  to  em- 
ploy artificial  heat,  which  is  applied  either  through  open- 
work or  wire  presses,  through  hollow  metal  cylinders  to 
which  the  specimens  are  kept  appressed,  or  through  the 
passages  of  corrugated  papers  between  which  the  plant  is 
embedded  in  layers  of  cotton  wool.  I  can  hardly  take 
space  to  describe  these  methods  in  particulars,  or  the  de- 
tails essential  to  the  best  success  in  the  use  of  the  older 
ones;  but  happily  they  are  all  discussed  in  publications 
M'hich  are  readily  accessible,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  note 
which  I  give  below.*     The  mounting  of  the  specimens 

'  The  fullest  account  of  the  older  herbarium  methods  is  contained  in 
W.  W.  Bailey's  Botanizing  (Providence,  Preston  and  Rounds  Co., 
1907),  but  there  is  also  an  admirable  summary  of  the  whole  subject  in 
Gray's  Structural  Botany,  Chapter  X,  Section  4,  and  in  the  Herbarium 
number  of  the  Botanical  Gazette,  11,  June,  1886,  while  many  valuable 
directions,  based  upon  an  unusually  successful  experience,  are  in  W. 
Deane's  "  Notes  from  My  Herbarium "  in  the  Botanical  Gazette, 
20,  1895,  12,  150,  345,  492,  and  21,  1896,  210.  There  is  an  account 
of  some  of  the  methods  used  at  the  Gray  Herbarium,  by  B.  L.  Robin- 


1 62  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

offers  no  difficulty;  they  are  simply  glued  by  their 
least  useful  side  to  sheets  of  thick  paper  or  cardboard, 
after  having  been  poisoned,  if  the  utmost  security  is  desired 
against  injury  by  insects.  Herbaria  have  been  made  so 
long  and  in  such  numbers  that  the  appliances  and  materials, 
as  well  to  some  extent  as  the  methods,  have  gradually 
approached  a  condition  of  standardization;  and  the  stand- 
ard driers  and  mounting  papers,  as  well  as  collecting 
appliances  and  presses,  are  now  sold  by  most  dealers  in 
biological  supplies,  while  they  are  a  specialty  of  The 
Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Company,  of  Waverly, 
Massachusetts.  The  corrugated  paper  press  is  sold  ready 
for  use,  under  the  name  of  Riker's  press,  by  The  Henry 
Heil  Chemical  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Another  phase  of  herbarium-making  which  will  here 
recur  to  the  mind  of  the  reader,  is  its  requirement  by  many 
teachers  from  their  students  as  a  regular  part  of  the  work 
of  their  course.  I  have  already  discussed  this  subject 
from  the  educational  point  of  view  in  the  earlier  section 
on  teaching,  and  would  only  make  at  this  place  a  single 
recommendation, — -that  if  an  herbarium  is  required,  it 
should  be  formed  upon  some  such  plan  as  that  of  the 

SON,  in  Rhodora,  5,  237,  1903.  A  note  giving  Hennings's  method 
of  preserving  the  colors  of  flowers  is  in  the  Annals  of  Botany,  i,  1887, 
178.  The  new  hot  cylinder  method  of  drying  is  described  by  S. 
RosTOWZEW  in  the  German  Journal  Flora,  88,  1901,  473,  and  there  is  a 
synopsis  of  this  article  in  Torreya,  i,  1901,  145;  while  the  corrugated 
paper  method  is  described  by  W.  A.  Kellerman,  in  Science,  27,  1908,  69. 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  1 63 

teaching  herbarium  just  described  rather  than  upon  the 
usual  floristic  plan. 

In  making  herbaria,  whether  for  the  teaching  collection 
or  by  the  students  as  a  part  of  their  course,  most  teachers 
require  the  standard  size  of  mounting  paper,  the  regular 
genus  covers,  etc.  But  while  this  size  (16 J  by  11^  inches) 
is  very  convenient  in  large  herbaria  provided  with 
suitable  cases,  one  or  two  hundred  of  such  sheets  make 
a  package  very  awkward  to  store  amongst  a  student's 
other  effects,  and  not  easy  to  consult  on  small,  crowded 
tables.  This  objection  can  be  overcome  if  the  sheets 
are  reduced  to  the  size  of  a  large  book  and  kept  stored 
among  books.  This  I  have  found  to  be  entirely  prac- 
ticable, and  so  advantageous  that  I  have  adopted  it 
for  a  small  private  collection  of  my  own,  even  in  the 
presence  of  the  best  of  facilities  for  storing  the  larger  size. 
Sheets  one  half  the  usual  size  will  hold  most  specimens, 
especially  if  collected  on  the  teaching-herbarium  plan, 
while  specimens  too  large  for  such  sheets  can  be  treated 
precisely  as  are  those  too  large  for  the  ordinary  size.  The 
specimens  are  firmly  glued  to  the  half  (or  somewhat 
smaller)  sheets,  which  are  then  placed  between  those  covers 
used  in  colleges  by  students  for  holding  any  number  of 
sheets  of  paper,  and  held  by  paper  fasteners.  The  thick- 
ness of  the  specimen^  is  compensated  by  extra  strips  or 
stubs ;  and  additions  and  rearrangements  may  be  made  with 
great  ease.     The  collection  is  then  practically  a  book,  and 


l64  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

may  be  kept  among  books.  If  it  be  thought  that  specimens 
so  kept  are  particularly  subject  to  collection  of  dust  and  to 
insect  ravages,  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  are  no 
more  exposed  than  they  are  in  the  usual  condition  in  which 
beginners  keep  them,  and  that  if  one  cares,  he  may  keep 
these  books  closely  enwrapped  in  paper,  or  even  in  the 
usual  tight  tin  cases.  It  is  sometimes  said  in  favor  of  the 
standard  size  that  if  a  student  continues  his  studies,  his 
collection  will  form  a  nucleus  for  his  larger  herbarium;  in 
such  case,  however,  the  specimens  can  readily  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  larger  sheets. 

The  teaching  collection,  whether  museum  or  herbarium, 
must  include  a  good  many  anatomical  preparations  to 
illustrate  plant  structures,  especially  plant  tissues.  Most 
of  these  will  be  prepared  and  added  to  the  collection  by  the 
teacher  or  his  students  ;  and  specimens  of  this  origin,  when 
well  made,  exceed  in  value  any  that  can  be  bought,  for 
they  involve  a  thoroughness  of  knowledge  of  the  object, 
together  with  associations  of  loving  effort  and  personal 
devotion,  which  the  purchased  ones  must  lack.  But 
when  time,  skill,  or  conviction  as  to  the  superior  worth  of 
the  home-made  kind,  are  wanting,  some  preparations  should 
be  bought.  Thus,  wood  sections,  beautifully  prepared  and 
mounted  in  book  form  to  show  the  three  principal  sections 
of  all  the  leading  North  American  woods,  with  accompany- 
ing descriptive  text,  are  sold  by  R.  B.  Hough,  of  Low- 
yille.  New  York.     A  beautifully-prepared  series  of  North 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  1 65 

American  Algae,  mounted  in  book  form  and  fully  labeled, 
is  sold  by  F.  S.  Collins,  of  Maiden,  Massachusetts,  while 
sets  of  Fungi  have  been  sold  by  several  persons.  Of  much 
importance  are  microscopical  preparations  showing  funda- 
mental facts  of  plant  anatomy,  and  also  the  structure  of  the 
microscopic  kinds  of  plants.  It  is  well  to  have  a  somewhat 
wide  range  of  these  for  demonstration  and  for  voluntary 
study  by  those  w^hose  tastes  incline  them  thereto,  and  it  is 
also  desirable  to  have  some  sets  for  regular  use  in  the  class 
work,  as  suggested  in  places  in  the  second  part  of  this  book. 
In  the  case  of  some  important  topics  in  which  the  prepa- 
ration of  material  involves  unusual  difficulties,  e.g.  in  cell 
division  or  in  the  reproductive  stages  of  some  low  plants, 
it  will  probably  pay  the  teacher  to  purchase,  rather  than  to 
attempt  to  make,  the  slides.  Sets  of  botanical  slides  are  sold 
by  most  dealers  in  biological  supplies,  but  sets  especially 
prepared  for  botanical  instruction  are  sold  by  the  St. 
Louis  Biological  Laboratory,  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
while  suitable  cases  for  their  storage  are  sold  by  all  dealers. 
Next  in  value  after  living  plants  and  prepared  specimens 
should  come,  theoretically,  good  models.  But  in  actual 
practice  models  are  mostly  inferior  to  good  pictures,  in 
part  because  of  their  relatively  much  greater  expense,  and 
in  part  because  the  art  of  model-making  wi^h  fidelity  to 
nature  is  far  behind  the  art  of  picture-making.  There  is 
also  an  objection  of  another  sort  to  the  use  of  the  com- 
monest kind  of  models,  viz,  those  huge  representations  of 


1 66  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

familiar  flowers  made  in  papier-mache  and  arranged  to  be 
taken  apart  to  show  the  interior  parts,  for  they  usually  im- 
press students  as  so  grotesque  a  parody  on  nature,  that 
their  use,  with  me  at  least,  conduces  more  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  a  class  than  to  its  instruction.  Moreover,  they 
seem  to  me  to  savor  of  over-refinement  of  illustration.  To 
use  such  elaborate  methods  to  illustrate  facts  which,  with 
but  little  effort,  one  can  see  for  himself,  is  not  only  to 
carry  a  good  method  over  the  bounds  of  the  useful  into  the 
field  of  the  absurd,  but  is  making  illustration  enervating 
rather  than  stimulating.  These  objections  apply,  how- 
ever, to  models  of  familiar  and  easily-seen  objects,  but  not 
at  all  to  enlarged  models  of  minute  and  unfamiliar  subjects, 
such  as  stages  in  embryological  development ;  nor  do  they 
apply  to  such  thoroughly  artistic  models  as  the  Ware  col- 
lection of  glass  models  of  flowers  at  Harvard  University,  of 
which  mention  has  already  been  made.^ 

The  principal  makers  of  models  of  plants  are  R.  Bren- 
DEL,  of  Berlin,  Germany,  who  makes  a  large  series  in 
gelatine,  papier-mache,  and  wood :  Docteur  Auzoux  and 
Les  Fils  d'Emile  Deyrolle,  of  Paris,  both  of  which 
firms  offer  a  miscellaneous  series :  and  P.  Osterloh,  of 
Leipzig,  who  makes  a  series  of  models  of  fungus  parasites. 
The  Kny-Scheerer  Company,  of  New  York,  makes  a 
specialty  of  the  importation  of  models  as  well  as  charts. 
A  few  anatomical  models  of  stomata,  arranged  to  open 

'  On  page  151  of  this  book. 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  1 67 

and  shut,  of  spiral  vessels,  etc.,  have  been  offered  for  sale, 
but  no  firm  has  yet  made  a  specialty  of  their  manufacture. 
Models  to  show  the  working  of  the  mechanisms  aiding 
to  secure  cross  pollination  have  been  constructed,  but 
not,  so  far  as  I  know,  offered  for  sale. 

Next  in  illustrative  value  come  pictures,  which  may  be 
classified  into  two  groups,  viz.  photographs  and  wall 
charts.  Good  photographs,  appealing  vividly  to  the 
mind  through  the  eye,  find  their  special  value  in  the  rep- 
resentation of  botanical  phenomena  in  the  large,  such  as 
the  general  topography  of  masses  of  vegetation  in  different 
climates  or  habitats,  or  the  appearance  of  foreign  plants 
in  their  native  homes.  In  the  exhibition  of  details  of 
structure  they  are,  as  a  rule,  inferior  to  wall  charts  or  other 
drawings.  Photographs,  like  specimens,  have  their 
greatest  value  when  made  expressly  for  their  object  by 
teacher  or  students,  but  the  many  good  ones  which  may 
be  bought,  or  begged,  are  not  to  be  ignored.  Recently 
very  good  collections  of  photographs  of  vegetation 
have  become  available  in  standard  publications,  notably 
in  Schimper's  great  work,  Plant  Geography  on  a  Physio- 
logical Basis,  and  especially  in  Karsten  and  Schenck's 
remarkable  Vegetationshilder,  both  of  which  are  further 
mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  Books.  The  great  defect  of 
photographs  as  class  illustrations  is  the  impossibility  of 
showing  them  to  a  large  number  of  students  at  once,  yet 
this  is  necessary  at  the  time  when  photographs  are  most 


l68  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

used,  viz.  when  the  larger  aspects  of  vegetation  are  under 
consideration  in  lectures  or  demonstrations.  This  diffi- 
culty is  overcome  when  they  are  transferred  to  lantern 
slides  and  projected  upon  a  screen  with  a  stereopticon. 
Lantern  slides,  now  made  universally  in  a  standard  size, 
of  4  by  3^  inches,  are  easily  prepared  by  any  one 
at  all  proficient  with  photography,  and  large  numbers, 
mostly,  however,  of  anatomical  subjects,  and  copied  from 
various  standard  works,  are  offered  for  sale  by  dealers 
in  stereopticons  or  biological  supplies.  A  particularly 
useful  set,  mostly  from  original  sources,  and  showing 
vegetation  especially,  is  offered  by  the  St.  Louis  Bio- 
logical Laboratory,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  Stereop- 
ticons are  now  so  well  made  by  so  many  different  dealers 
that  it  is  needless  to  particularize.  The  kind  using 
the  electric  arc  light  is  much  the  best,  because  it  permits 
the  pictures  to  be  seen  clearly  in  a  room  only  partially 
darkened.  The  best  screen  is  a  smooth  white  wall.  The 
advantage  of  the  stereopticon  is  great,  and  it  will  certainly 
pay  the  teacher  to  obtain  one,  with  a  collection  of  suitable 
slides,  though  the  outfit  is  to  be  regarded  as  among  the 
desirable  rather  than  the  essential  features  of  botanical 
instruction. 

A  stereopticon  permits  also  of  other  illustration.  Thus 
a  microscope  may  be  substituted  for  the  projection  lens, 
and  various  microscopical  objects  of  not  too  minute  a 
character,  including  even  the  exhibition  of  moving  pro- 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  l6g 

toplasm,  may  be  shown  upon  a  screen,  though  not  at  a 
great  distance.  Moreover,  some  physiological  phenomena 
can  also  be  exliibited  in  progress,^  though  the  preparation 
for  these,  like  the  use  of  the  projecting  microscope  at  all, 
is  so  time-consuming  and  otherwise  troublesome,  that  no 
one  should  undertake  it  unless  he  has  unusual  facil- 
ities and  a  taste  for  that  particular  kind  of  work.  Some 
makers  (e.g.  Williams,  Brown  &  Earle,  of  Philadel- 
phia) also  supply  a  special  projecting  lens,  called  a  media- 
scope,  useful  for  projecting  small,  though  not  microscopic, 
translucent  objects,  such  as  cross  sections  of  stems,  or 
small  transparent  animals.  Very  practicable  and  useful 
is  the  recently-introduced  instrument,  now  sold  by  dealers 
under  various  names  (reflectoscope  of  A.  T,  Thompson 
&  Company,  of  Boston :  episcope  and  epidiascope  of  Carl 
Zeiss,  of  Jena,  Germany,  and  the  similar  instrument  of 
E.  Leitz,  of  Wetzlar:  balopticon  of  the  Bausch  &  Lome 
Optical  Company),  which  projects  the  images  of  solid 
opaque  objects,  such  as  pictures  in  books,  or  small  ap- 
paratus, directly  upon  the  screen,  and  which  has  only  the 
drawback  that  its  range  or  distance  of  action  is  much  more 
limited  than  that  of  the  ordinary  stereopticon.  Finally, 
the  principal  dealers  are  now  supplying  a  combination 
projection    apparatus    in    which    either    projection    lens, 

'  The  various  kinds  that  may  be  shown,  and  the  methods  to  be  used, 
are  described  by  W.  Pfeffer  in  the  German  Journal  Jahrbilcher  fw 
wissenschaftliche  Botanik,  35,  1900,  711. 


170  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

microscope,  mediascope,  or  reflectoscope  may  be  swung 
quickly  into  place  before  a  powerful  electric  light,  thus 
permitting  of  the  easy  and  rapid  transition  from  one  to 
the  other  of  these  forms  of  illustration. 

The  second  class  of  illustrative  pictures  includes  wall 
diagrams,  whose  value  consists  in  the  clearness  with 
which  they  may  be  made  to  exhibit  the  details  of  plant 
structure.  So  widely  is  their  educational  worth  appre- 
ciated that  many  sets  have  been  published,  and  are  for 
sale  at  reasonable  prices,  which  are  here  quoted  on  the 
duty-free  basis  for  schools  and  colleges.  Of  sets  devoted 
to  the  general  subjects  of  the  elementary  course,  — anatomy 
of  the  higher  plants  and  life-histories  of  the  lower,  —  the 
most  useful  is  the  Kny  series,  published  by  Paul  Parey, 
of  Berlin,  of  size  69  x  85  cm.,  100  in  number,  with  explana- 
tory text,  costing  about  $96  unmounted,  while  a  second 
series  of  much  larger  size,  100  x  150  cm.,  is  now  in  progress 
of  publication,  at  a  cost  of  about  $2.40  each.  The  teacher 
should  make  every  effort  to  secure  this  very  satisfactory 
series,  the  first  in  particular.  He  should  also  obtain  them 
mounted  on  cloth;  the  price  is  higher  but  worth  while  be- 
cause of  their  greater  durability,  .\nother  and  older  series  of 
somewhat  similar  scope  is  the  Dodel-Port,  published  by 
J.  F.  Schreiber,  of  Esslingen,  a  little  larger  than  the  Kny 
series,  42  in  number,  costing  about  $26.  Another  series  now 
in  course  of  publication  is  the  "  Tabulae  Botanicas,"  pub- 
lished by  Gebriider  Borntrager  of  Berlin,  100  x  150  cm.  in 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  17I 

size,  of  which  5  have  so  far  appeared,  costing  $7.50  un- 
mounted. Of  sets  devoted  to  classification  and  ecology, 
there  are  three.  The  most  useful  is  the  Peter  series,  pub- 
lished by  Fischer,  of  Berlin,  50  in  number,  of  size  70  X  go 
cm.,  costing  about  75  cents  each,  unmounted.  Next  is  the 
Jung  series,  published  by  Fromman  and  Morian,  of  Darm- 
stadt, 40  in  number,  about  100  X  75  cm.,  costing  90  cents 
each.  Finally  comes  the  Kohl  series,  published  by  E. 
Nageli,  of  Stuttgart,  of  which  16  have  appeared,  of  size  85 
X  115  cm.,  costing  $1.25  each.  For  illustration  of  physio- 
logical phenomena  there  are  two  series,  that  of  Errera  and 
Laurent,  published  by  H.  Lamertin,  of  Brussels,  15  in 
number,  in  size  70  x  85  cm.,  with  explanatory  text,  costing 
about  $15  unmounted,  a  very  useful  and  satisfactory 
series,  and  that  of  Frank  and  Tschirch,  published  by 
Paul  Parey,  in  Berlin,  60  in  number,  of  size  65  X  98  cm., 
with  explanatory  text,  costing  about  $54.  An  economic 
series,  illustrating  commercial  botanical  products,  is  that 
of  Hassack,  published  by  A.  Pichlers  Witwe  and  Sohn,  of 
Vienna,  16  in  number,  63  X95  cm.,  costing  50  cents  each, 
and  there  are  sets  of  agricultural  charts  by  Orth  of  Berlin, 
of  Plant  Diseases,  by  von  Tubeuf,  of  Munich,  and  of 
Bacteriology  by  Migula,  of  Karlsruhe.  Several  sets  have 
also  been  published  in  this  country,  but  so  far  as  my 
knowledge  of  them  goes,  the  drawings  seem  to  me  inferior 
to  the  foreign  series.  There  is  also  a  series  of  large 
micro-photographs  by  S.  F.  Tower,  sold  by  Ginn  and 


172  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Co.  of  Boston,  at  a  cost  of  $2.75  each.  All  of  these 
sets  may  be  imported  through  any  dealer  in  foreign  books, 
and  their  importation  duty-free  (the  duty  is  twenty-five  per 
cent)  for  schools,  is  a  specialty  of  The  Kny-Scheerer 
Company,  of  New  York,  from  whom  descriptive  cata- 
logues and  details    as  to  prices  may  be  obtained. 

Wall  charts  made  by  the  teacher  or  students  have  some- 
what the  same  kind  of  superiority  over  purchased  ones, 
as  have  home-made  specimens  and  photographs,  but  with 
this  difference,  that  the  wall  charts  are  relatively  much 
more  difficult  to  make  well.  Several  methods  for  prepar- 
ing them  are  in  use.  The  best  paper  is  architects'  drawing 
•paper,  which  is  thick  and  backed  with  cloth,  though  it  is 
expensive;  but  I  would  here  express  the  opinion  that 
a  few  on  such  material,  with  the  enforced  care  and  fore- 
thought, are  worth  many  of  a  cruder  sort.  Other  less 
expensive  materials  which  have  been  recommended  are 
white  curtaining,  or  "printed"  muslin,  or  black  pattern 
paper,  or  strong  manila  paper,  or  cardboard.  The  draw- 
ing may  be  done  by  water  colors,  or  by  draughtsman's 
colored  inks,  or  by  colored  chalks,  or  by  black  crayons, 
of  which  the  marks  are  afterwards  fixed  by  a  spray  of 
weak  gum  arable,  or  by  paraffined  crayons,  which  may  be 
bought  (as  prepared  for  marking  upon  glass,  boxes,  and 
so  forth),  or  may  be  made  at  home  by  immersing  ordinary 
colored  crayons  in  melted  soft  paraffin  until  the  bubbles 
cease  to  come  off.     Certainly  very  good  charts  may  be 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  1 73 

prepared  by  these  methods,  as  those  who  have  tried  them 
attest/  Such  charts  may  either  be  kept  flat  or,  when  of 
the  larger  size,  rolled  upon  attached  cylindrical  sticks, 
with  flat  strips  at  the  other  extremity. 

The  best  method  known  to  me  for  hanging  charts 
while  in  use  is  that  already  described  and  figured  (p. 
119  and  Fig.  5).  For  their  storage  it  is  an  advantage  to 
have  them  all  of  one  size,  and  the  larger  Kny  size  (100  X  150 
cm.)  is  best  if  they  are  to  be  mounted  on  rollers,  but  the 
smaller  size  (69  x  85  cm.)  is  best  if  they  are  to  be  kept 
flat.  The  size  adopted  must  depend,  however,  largely 
upon  the  distance  at  which  they  are  to  be  viewed,  and, 
therefore,  to  some  extent  upon  the  size  of  the  class. 
There  has  been  a  marked  tendency  of  late,  among  the 
publishers  of  charts,  to  increase  their  size.  If  mounted 
upon  rollers,  which  are  labeled  on  the  end,  the  storage 
is  easiest,  for  they  may  be  kept  in  very  simple  racks  need- 
ing a  minimum  of  room.  Next  in  convenience  would 
come  the  use  of  slide  shelves  or  shallow  drawers,  on  which 
they  could  be  laid  flat,  and  yet  be  readily  accessible.  This 
method,  however,  is  wasteful  of  ground  space,  and  a 
much  more  economical  arrangement  from  this  point  of 
view  is  a  shallow  upright  case  built  against  the  wall,  as 

'  The  details  as  to  the  use  of  these  methods  are  given  by  J.  W.  Harsh- 
BERGER  in  Education,  7,  iSgg,  493,  and  by  several  writers  in  the  Journal 
of  Applied  Microscopy,  —  by  F.  D.  Heald,  in  3,  1900,  1059;  by  O. 
Howard  in  4,  1901,  1172;  by  C.  E.  Bessey,  in  4,  1901,  1195,  and  by 
Martha  Tracy  in  6,  1903,  21 14. 


174 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


shown  by  the  accompanying  figure  (Fig.  13).     Its  bottom 

is  about  a  foot  above  the  floor,  and  the  front  is  hinged,  so 

as  to  drop  forward  a  few  inches  at  the  top,  when  it  is 

caught  and  held  by  a  side  chain. 

...    The  charts  then  fall  fonvard  upon 

this  cover,  and  are  easily  worked 

over  and  withdra\ATi.     The  great 

drawback  to  its  use  consists  in  the 

fact  that  the  charts,  unless  very 

stiff,    have    a    tendency    to    sink 

down  and  bend  under  their  own 

weight;  but  this  can  be  overcome 

by  the  use  of  a  suitable  portfolio 

to  each  dozen  charts. 

In   this   chapter,  and  the  one 

which  precedes  it,   I  have  given 

account  of  a  great  many  things 

which  are  much  to  be  desired  for 

the  botanical  laboratory,  as  well 

Fig.  13. — A  successful  box  for   as  elaborate   plans   for  the  con- 
storage    of    diagrams,    in  .  c     i       i   i  •       ir 

cross  section.    The  dotted   struction  of  the  laboratory  itself, 
lines  show  it  open.    Scale,    g^j^.^    completeness   of    facilities 

about  I  inch  =  i  foot. 

may  seem  to  my  readers  too 
much  to  expect,  and  well-nigh  impossible  to  attain.  But 
there  is  one  thing  about  it  all  that  I  can  assure  him,  which 
is  this:  it  is  much  easier  for  us  Americans  to  obtain  fine 
laboratories  and  equipment  than  to    make  good    use  of 


BOTANICAL   COLLECTIONS  1 75 

them  aftenvards.  As  a  people  we  are  over- trustful  of 
the  efficacy  of  machinery,  a  profusion  of  which  we  are  prone 
to  confound  with  progress.  The  work  of  the  spirit  is 
done  not  by  the  hke  of  graven  stone,  and  polished  wood, 
and  shining  brass,  though  these  things  may  be  made  to 
help,  but  only  by  the  living  word  straight  from  the  heart 
of  a  devoted  teacher. 


VIII.    ON  BOTANICAL  BOOKS  AND  THEIR  USE 

There  is  a  saying  of  Agassiz  still  often  quoted: 
"  Study  Nature,  not  books."  This  warning  was  needed 
when  Agassiz  gave  it,  but  conditions  have  changed  for  the 
better.  Men  study  Nature  more  than  they  did,  and  books 
worth  reading  are  more  plenty  than  they  were.  So  I 
think  a  wiser  maxim  for  scientific  conduct  in  our  own 
day  is  this :  Study  Nature  and  books. 

Books  are  storehouses  of  knowledge,  and  contain  almost 
everything  that  any  one  can  desire  to  know,  but  they  exist 
in  such  numbers  that  it  is  well-nigh  an  art  in  itself  to  find 
in  them  the  things  that  one  needs.  A  knowledge  of 
botanical  books,  and  of  ways  to  use  them  w^th  profit,  is, 
therefore,  an  important  element  in  the  education  of  both 
teacher  and  student.  For  the  purposes  of  the  teaching 
botanist,  books  fall  into  three  classes:  those  to  be  read 
for  self-improvement,  those  for  reference,  and  text-books 
for  class  use. 

In  the  preceding  chapters  I  have  tried  to  make  clear 
the  principal  aim  of  science  teaching,  which  is  the  culti- 
vation of  the  scientific  habit  of  mind  to  the  end  that  a 
scientific  instinct  may  become  a  part  of  the  student's 
mentality.  No  teacher  who  lacks  this  scientific  habit  of 
thought  can  develop  it  in  others;   and,  other  things  being 

176 


BOTANICAL'   BOOKS   AND   THEIR    USE  177 

equal,  that  person  is  likely  to  be  the  most  successful  teacher 
who  has  it  in  the  highest  degree.  Self-improvement  in  this 
respect  is,  therefore,  a  first  duty  of  every  teacher.  The 
ideal  way  to  this  end  lies  through  original  investigation,  but 
as  this  is  not  always  practicable,  the  best  substitute  is  found 
in  the  reading  of  good  books,  especially  such  as  are  recog- 
nized as  models  of  scientific  exposition.  In  reading  a  book 
for  this  purpose,  however,  it  is  no  real  use  to  skim  it  for  its 
facts  or  its  rhetoric,  but  the  reader  must  enter  minutely 
into  the  spirit  of  the  work,  try  to  put  himself  into  the  mental 
attitude  of  the  writer,  view  as  he  does  the  original  data, 
follow  him  as  he  marshals  these  into  their  final  relative 
positions,  and  even  try  to  anticipate  him  in  the  deduction 
of  his  conclusions.  This  deliberate  method  of  reading 
needs  emphasis  because  the  conditions  of  modern  life 
force  much  hasty  reading  upon  us.  Every  person  aspiring 
to  keep  in  touch  with  progress  must  spend  his  few  minutes 
a  day  on  the  newspaper,  his  hour  a  week  on  his  favorite 
literary  review,  and  some  time  upon  the  new  magazines 
and  books.  It  is  essential  and  desirable  that  we  all 
develop  the  useful  arts  of  skimming  the  substance  from 
much  printed  matter,  and  of  learning  from  headlines, 
tables  of  contents,  and  pictures;  but  we  should  guard 
against  loss  of  the  capacity  and  the  inclination  for  that 
critical,  absorptive,  thorough  reading  which  is  educational 
rather  than  informational.  It  is  a  good  rule  to  have  al- 
ways on  hand  some  piece  of  reading  of  this  thorough  kind. 

N 


178  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

Turning  now  to  the  books  which  are  worth  reading  in  this 
way,  books  to  be  read  for  self-improvement,  we  find  some, 
though  none  too  many.  Upon  the  general  subject  of  scien- 
tific education  and  the  place  of  the  sciences  in  education, 
there  is  nothing  to  equal  the  various  addresses  of  Huxley, 
which  are  remarkable  for  their  combination  of  scientific  and 
educational  acumen  with  a  forceful  and  graceful  literary 
style.  These  are  all  brought  together  in  his  Collected 
Essays,  of  which  his  Science  and  Education  will  be  of  most 
interest  and  profit  to  the  botanical  teacher.  With  these 
one  associates  the  addresses  of  President  Eliot,  whose 
influence  upon  scientific  education  in  this  country  has 
been  profound,  and  whose  writings,  collected  into  several 
valuable  volumes,  are  unsurpassed  in  the  force  of  their 
presentation  of  educational  problems.  Among  books 
which  are  recognized  as  models  of  scientific  argument, 
the  first  place  would  be  accorded  by  common  consent  to 
Darwin's  Origin  of  Species,  a  work  which  the  teacher  will 
also  find  it  well  to  read  in  the  hope  of  understanding 
something  of  the  causes  of  the  profound  effect  it  has  had 
upon  the  course  of  biological  and  philosophical  thought. 
But  it  is  not  easy  reading  and  needs  to  be  read  more  than 
once,  while  its  real  greatness  stands  out  only  when  the 
work  can  be  projected  against  a  large  background  of 
biological  and  other  knowledge.^ 

*  As  evolution  is  a  particularly  fitting  subject  for  the  teacher  to  study 
for  self-improvement,  I  may  here  mention  the  more  distinctive  books  on 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  179 

Of  botanical  biography,  travel,  and  essays,  there  are 
some  good  books.  Among  them  one  thinks  first  of  the 
two  biological  biographies.  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Charles 
Darwin,  by  his  son,  Francis  (with  its  important  supple- 
mentary More  Letters  of  Charles  Darwin),  and  The  Life 
and  Letters  of  Thomas  Henry  Huxley,  by  his  son  Leonard, 
both  of  which  rank  among  the  great  biographies  of  litera- 
ture, and  invite  the  most  careful  reading.  Of  botanical 
essays  some  of  the  best  are  those  of  Asa  Gray,  collected 
in  his  Scientific  Writings  (particularly  in  Vol.  II) ; 
they  deal  with  many  subjects  of  general  as  well  as  special 
botanical  interest,  and,  like  all  of  his  writings,  are  clear 
and  graceful  in  style.  From  this  point  of  view  one  may 
almost  include  here  Sachs's  book.  Lectures  on  the  Physi- 

the  subject.  These  would  be  De  Vries,  Species  and  Varieties,  their 
origin  by  Mutation  (Chicago,  Open  Court  Publishing  Co.,  1905)  and  his 
Mutation  Theory,  translated  by  J.  B.  Farmer  and  A.  D.  Darbishire,  of 
which  Vol.  I  has  been  published  by  the  Open  Court  Co.  Weis- 
MANN,  The  Evolution  Theory,  translated  by  J.  A.  and  M.  R.  Thom- 
son (London,  Edwin  Arnold,  1904,  2  vols.).  Packard,  Lamarck,  The 
Founder  of  Evolution,  his  Life  and  Work  (New  York,  Longmans,  Green  & 
Co.  1901).  Bateson,  Metulel's  Principles  of  Heredity  (Cambridge 
University  Press,  1909).  The  two  best  discussions  of  evolution  in  general 
are  Osborn,  From  the  Greeks  to  Darwin  (New  York,  the  Macmillan  Co., 
1899),  and  Romanes,  Darwin  and  After  Darifin  (Chicago,  Open  Court 
Publishing  Co.,  1892-1897,  3  vols.).  Very  important  also  are  two  new 
books  of  addresses  connected  with  Darwin's  Centenary,  viz.  Darwin  and 
Modern  Science,  edited  by  A.  C.  Seward  (Cambridge,  University  Press, 
1909)  and  Fifty  Years  of  Darwinism  (New  York,  Holt  &  Co.  1909).  A 
standard  book  on  scientific  method,  but  one  not  easy  to  read,  is  Pear- 
son's Grammar  of  Scierue  (New  York,  The  Macmillan  Co.). 


l8o  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

ology  of  Plants,  which,  although  primarily  a  text-book, 
and  unfortunately  now  much  out  of  date,  is  a  model  of 
clear  and  attractive  exposition  of  its  material,  well  worth 
reading  from  cover  to  cover,  while  his  History  of  Botany 
is  also  a  work  of  great  force  and  value.  Of  a  much  less 
technical  character  are  the  pleasing  essays  by  Geddes, 
in  his  Chapters  in  Modern  Botany,  as  well  as  some  of  the 
works  of  Sir  John  Lubbock,  notably  his  synoptical 
Flowers,  Fruit,  and  Leaves,  while  a  good  little  book  of 
physiological  essays  is  Arthur  and  MacDougal's  Living 
Plants  and  their  Properties.  The  great  work  of  Kerner, 
his  Natural  History  of  Plants,  a  superbly-illustrated  and 
attractively-written  work,  really  belongs  in  this  class,  in 
which  also  I  would  place  some  of  the  writings  of  L.  H. 
Bailey,  notably  his  Survival  of  the  Unlike,  which  contains 
many  botanical  essays  with  evolutionar}^  bearing.  Here 
also  belongs  a  most  attractive  work  of  biological  biogra- 
phies, Locy's  Biology  and  its  Makers,  which  should  also 
be  placed  before  all  students.  Of  books  of  travel  there 
are  several,  of  which  the  most  famous  is  Darwin's  Voyage 
of  the  Beagle,  while  two  by  Wall.aCE,  his  Malay  Archi- 
pelago and  his  Tropical  Nature,  are  worthy  to  rank  with 
that  work.  These,  with  some  others  which  I  mention 
in  a  note,^  deal  with  animals  much  more  than  with  plants, 

*  Works  of  a  reputation  so  high  as  almost  to  rank  them  with  the  classics 
of  Botany,  though  not  easy  to  read  except  by  those  with  tropical  experi- 
ence, are  Bates's  Naturalist  on  the  Amazon  (London,  J.  Murray,  1892), 


BOTANICAL    BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  i8l 

but  are  not  the  less  valuable  to  the  botanist  ofi  that  account, 
for  Botany  does  not  exist  to  itself  alone.  All  of  the  books 
I  have  mentioned  have  proven  their  value  by  taking  a 
recognized  place  in  scientific  literature,  and  thus  stand  in 
contrast  to  the  many  others  which  have  had  their  vogue 
and  have  passed.  Taken  as  a  whole,  there  is  no  question 
that  the  literary  aspect  of  scientific  botanical  literature  is 
conspicuously  weak,  and  herein  lies  a  field  for  service  not 
inferior  in  dignity  and  difficulty  to  anything  open  any- 
where in  educational  effort. 

In  connection  with  works  to  be  read  for  self-improvement 
one  thinks  naturally  of  the  botanical  journals,  as  the 
medium  through  which  one  keeps  in  touch  with  botanical 
progress.  New  botanical  books  of  general  interest  are,  of 
course,  reviewed  in  the  literary  journals,  and  it  is  becom- 
ing more  and  more  the  good  custom  for  the  leading  illus- 
trated magazines  to  publish  articles  upon  new  botanical 

and  Belt's  Naturalist  in  Nicaragua  (London,  E.  Bumpus,  1873).  A 
recent  book  of  the  same  type  is  Spruce's  Notes  of  a  Botanist  on  the  Ama- 
zon and  Andes  (London,  the  Macmillan  Co.,  1908,  2  vols.).  Another,  of 
altogether  unusual  interest  as  a  narrative,  aside  from  the  high  value  of  its 
observations,  is  Forbes's  Naturalist's  Wanderings  in  the  Eastern  Archi- 
pelago (London,  Sampson,  Low  &  Co.,  1885).  To  these  I  would  add  two 
books  by  W.  H.  Hudson,  which,  while  almost  exclusively  zoological,  are 
in  my  opinion  quite  unmatched  for  their  combination  of  clear  scientific 
description  and  attractive  literary  form,  his  Naturalist  in  La  Plata  and 
his  Idle  Days  in  Patagonia  (London,  Chapman  and  Hall,  1892  and  1893). 
If  one  would  read  an  attractive  book  in  German,  describing  the  travels  of 
an  expert  modern  botanist,  he  will  find  it  in  Haberlandt's  Eine  hotanische 
Tropenreise  (Leipzig,  W.  Engelmann,  1893). 


l82  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

discoveries,  especially  such  as  have  economic  applications; 
and  thus  the  teacher  may  keep  informed  to  some  extent 
through  these  sources.  The  most-  important  journal, 
however,  one  which  gives  botanical  news,  reviews,  ad- 
dresses, occasional  articles,  along  with  similar  matter  for 
the  other  sciences,  is  the  weekly  newspaper  Science,  and 
the  teacher  should  arrange  to  see  it  every  week.  The 
corresponding  and  much  older  English  journal,  which 
it  is  also  very  advantageous  to  follow,  is  Nature. 
The  leading  botanical  journal  of  this  country  is  the 
Botanical  Gazette,  the  principal  articles  of  which  are 
mostly  too  technical  for  the  use  of  teachers,  though  the 
briefer  articles,  minor  notices,  and  notes  for  students, 
while  intended  for  a  somewhat  advanced  audience,  are 
simply  invaluable  as  synopses  of  botanical  progress. 
Another  prominent  journal  is  the  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey 
Botanical  Club,  which  leans  strongly  towards  classification, 
but  has  some  articles  of  general  interest,  together  with  a 
distinctive  monthly  index  to  all  American  botanical 
literature;  while  it  is  supplemented  for  general  news, 
reviews,  and  so  forth,  by  the  journal  Torreya,  issued 
under  the  same  management.  Another  journal  devoted 
to  classification,  especially  of  the  tiora  of  the  north- 
eastern United  States,  is  Rhodora.  But  as  to  a  jour- 
nal for  the  teacher  and  general  reader,  we  have  as  yet 
none  that  even  approaches  a  satisfactory  character,  and 
the  lack  of  it  is  another  illustration  of  the  weakness  of 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR    USE  183 

this  science  on  the  literary  side.     Such  a  journal  should  be 
accurate  in  its  fact,  literary  in  its  tone,  artistic  in  its  dress, 
and   comprehensive    in    its  scope,  —  having   departments 
of  leading  articles,  contemporary  discoveries,  educational 
advances,  editorial  comment,  reprints  of  botanical  classics, 
book  reviews,  biographical  and  other  news ;  and  it  should 
cover  these  subjects  so  systematically  that  nothing  of  conse- 
quence would  be  missed,  and  no  teacher  or  other  person 
of  botanical  interests,  could  afford  to  go  without  it.     The 
most  prominent  of  the  popular  journals  now  existent  is 
the  Plant  World,  which  is  notable  for  the  authoritative 
quality  of  the  articles  of  which  it  almost  entirely  consists, 
and   this  is  true  also  of   the   English  journal.  The   New 
Phytologist,  which,  however,  is  somewhat  more  technical 
in  character.      Another,    which    publishes    miscellaneous 
botanical  notes,  etc.,  is  The  American  Botanist.     A  good 
journal  devoted    to    the    teaching   of   the   sciences,   and 
including  excellent  occasional  botanical  articles,  is  School 
Science  and  Mathematics,  while  the  Nature-Study  Review 
contains  valuable  botanical  material,  along  with  its  other 
good    matter.     Further    information    about    the  place  of 
publication  and  price  of  these  journals  will  be  found  in 
the  Bibliography  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

The  reader  who  has  followed  this  chapter  thus  far 
may  sometimes  have  wondered  how  I  expect  that  people 
with  resources  so  small  as  those  of  most  teachers  of 
Botany  can  hope  to  command  so  many  expensive  journals 


184  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

and  books.  Certainly  it  cannot  be  done  through  purchase 
and  subscription  by  the  individual,  though  some  books, 
those  to  be  most  carefully  read,  the  teacher  should  himself 
possess.  But  nearly  all  schools  have  a  library  of  some 
sort,  while  most  teachers  are  now  in  touch  with  a  public 
library;  and  the  teacher  should  urge  the  purchase  of  these 
books,  and  the  taking  of  some  of  these  journals,  by  one 
or  the  other.  The  teaching  botanist,  in  fact,  should  be 
the  local  authority  upon  what  is  best  in  botanical  litera- 
ture, and  should  courteously  but  firmly  insist  that  the 
libraries  provide  it.  And  this  will  be  the  easier  from  the 
fact  that  all  librarians  welcome  exactly  this  kind  of  inter- 
est and  advice. 

We  pass  now  to  the  important  matter  of  reference  books, 
which  have  several  values  for  the  teaching  botanist.  They 
are  sources  of  information  when  new  questions  arise, 
stores  of  illustration  and  material  for  fuller  study  of  par- 
ticular topics,  and  treasuries  of  suggestion  to  such  of  the 
better  students  as  take  pleasure  in  working  through  them. 
They  should  always  be  accessible  in  the  laboratory',  and 
students  should  be  taught  the  valuable  habit  of  consulting 
scientific  literature  by  following  up  through  the  indexes  the 
topics  that  interest  them.  At  the  same  time  the  teacher 
must  remember,  and  the  students  be  taught,  that  all 
such  books  are  to  be  used  with  some  caution,  partly  be- 
cause of  their  unavoidable  human  equation  of  error,  and 
partly  because  even  the  best  of  them  are  soon  left  behind 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  185 

by  the  ceaseless  advance  of  Science,  and  in  time  become 
antiquated  or  obsolete  unless  superseded  by  later  editions. 
The  difficulty  is  not  that  most  of  their  matter  is  incorrect, 
but  that  only  an  expert  knows  what  is  to  be  trusted  and 
what  not.  Books  become  superseded,  of  course,  more 
quickly  in  some  divisions  of  the  science  than  in  others; 
but,  in  any  case,  it  is  essential  that  the  newest  editions  of 
standard  works  be  obtamed  as  they  appear,  and  this  is 
the  more  worth  while  since  later  editions  are  likely  to  be 
improved  in  other  respects  besides  newness  of  information. 
One  always  experiences  a  pang  of  regret  in  removing  from 
the  list  of  books  of  present  value,  any  which  have  been 
works  of  mark  and  merit  in  their  day;  but  this  is  a  part 
of  the  price  of  progress.  In  the  preceding  part  of  this 
chapter  it  has  been  possible  to  omit  all  works  except  those 
which  appear  to  remain  of  permanent  value,  but  in  the 
part  to  follow,  I  must  make  mention  of  some  which  have 
been  in  use  within  our  own  day,  or  have  had  a  part  in  our 
own  education,  but  which  have  since  become  obsolete  or 
superseded. 

For  our  present  purpose  reference  books  may  con- 
veniently be  classified  in  agreement  with  the  divisions  of 
Botany  now  commonly  recognized  in  general  courses  and 
adopted  in  this  book,  viz.  Morphology  including  Anatomy, 
Physiology  including  Ecology,  and  Natural  History  in- 
cluding Classification.  Upon  the  descriptive  morphology 
of  the  external  parts  of  the  higher  plants,  that  phase  of 


l86  THE-  TEACHING   BOTANIST 

the  science  which  stands  in  the  minds  of  most  persons  as 
morphology  par  excellence,  a  work  of  undisputed  pre- 
eminence is  Gray's  Structural  Botany,  a  very  clearly- 
written,  and  well-illustrated  book,  the  nature  of  whose 
subject  makes  it  still  a  standard  work.  But  while  its 
statements  of  fact  are  irreproachable,  its  interpretations  of 
morphology  are  of  a  formalistic  or  mechanical  kind  now 
rendered  obsolete  by  later  researches,  a  matter  which 
is  discussed  in  the  final  chapter  of  Part  I  of  this  book. 
The  present  great  standard  work  upon  the  external  mor- 
phology of  the  higher,  with  some  of  the  lower,  plants,  is 
Goebel's  Organography  of  Plants,  a  very  comprehensive 
and  stimulating  book;  to  a  certain  extent  it  super- 
sedes his  earlier  well-known  work.  Outlines  of  Special 
Morphology  and  Classification,  which,  however,  is  well- 
nigh  obsolete  for  need  of  revision.  The  present  trend  of 
morphological  study  correlates  external  and  internal  mor- 
phology more  closely,  and  this  newer  view  is  embodied 
in  the  two  important  works  of  Coulter  and  Chamber- 
lain, their  Morphology  of  Gymnosperms  and  Morphology 
of  Anglos  perms.  As  to  internal  morphology,  which,  so 
far  as  it  concerns  the  tissues,  is  now  commonly  called 
anatomy,  and  as  it  concerns  the  cell  protoplasm,  is 
called  cytology,  De  Bary's  almost  classical  Compara- 
tive Anatomy  of  the  Phanerogams  and  Ferns  is  still 
useful;  but  a  more  modern  work  from  a  somewhat 
different    standpoint    is    Solereder's    systematic   Anat- 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR    USE  187 

omy  of  the  Dicotyledons  (presumably  to  be  followed 
by  another  on  the  remaining  higher  plants).  These 
works  are  very  elaborate,  and  fortunately  we  possess 
a  recent  and  very  excellent  synopsis  of  the  subject  in 
Stevens's  Plant  Anatomy,  a  work  especially  adapted  to  the 
uses  of  a  teacher  in  a  general  course;  and  there  is  also  a 
good  briefer  presentation  of  this  subject  in  Curtis's 
Nature  and  Work  of  Plants,  and  a  particularly  authorita- 
tive treatment  by  Strasburger  in  his  Text-hook  of  Bot- 
any. For  the  practical  laboratory  study  of  anatomy,  we 
have  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  works  connected  with 
botanical  education,  and  one  of  the  few  books  which  forms 
a  good  guide  to  self-education,  in  Strasburger's  Hand- 
hook  of  Practical  Botany,  while  our  best,  and  that  a  very 
excellent,  work  upon  practical  methods  in  anatomy  and 
cytology  is  Chamberlain's  Methods  in  Plant  Histology. 
In  following  this  discussion  of  books  the  reader  will 
note  that  I  do  not  make  clear  distinction  between  books 
for  reference  and  text-books.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  the  text- 
books of  advanced  courses  serve  often  as  the  best  of  refer- 
ence works  for  lower  grades,  while  if  occasionally  happens 
that  a  work  which  one  teacher  would  use  as  a  reference 
book  in  the  general  course  is  used  by  another  as  a  text- 
book. I  can,  however,  but  present  them  all  as  they  look 
to  me  from  our  present  standpoint,  leaving  each  teacher 
to  make  choice  in  accord  with  his  judgment  and  local 
conditions. 


1 88  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Turning  next  to  Plant  Physiology,  we  find  first  of  all  a 
standard  work  of  the  very  highest  rank  in  every  respect: 
Pfeffer's  monumental  handbook,  Physiology  of.  Pla^its. 
But  although  invaluable  for  reference,  especially  for 
advanced  workers,  it  is  difficult  to  read  consecutively, 
and  the  best  reading  work,  one  of  great  excellence  in 
every  respect,  is  Jost's  Lectures  on  Plant  Physiology. 
This  work  is  of  the  scope,  and  may  be  considered  to 
supersede,  the  books  of  nearly  the  same  title  by  Sachs 
and  by  Vines,  works  great  in  their  day  but  now  far  be- 
hind the  state  of  our  knowledge.  Briefer  presentations 
of  the  subject  are  Green's  Introduction  to  Vegetable 
Physiology  and  Peirce's  Text-book  of  Plant  Physiology, 
both  of  them  excellent  works  which  supersede  Goodale's 
Physiological  Botany  —  a  work  of  similar  scope  but  now 
obsolete  through  lack  of  revision.  A  more  synoptical,  but 
quite  admirable  exposition  of  the  principles  of  the  subject 
by  F.  Noll,  is  in  Strasburger's  Text-book  of  Botany, 
while  from  the  practical  point  of  view,  of  gardening  and 
the  like,  a  very  admirable  treatment  of  the  subject  is 
Sorauer's  Popular  Treatise  on  the  Physiology  of  Plants. 
There  is  also  a  very  suggestive  treatment  of  plant  and 
animal  physiology  together,  in  Verworn's  Text-book  of 
General  Physiology.  A  work  which  combines  an  excellent 
presentation  of  the  elements  of  the  subject,  with  practical 
laboratory  directions  for  its  study,  is  MacDougal's 
Practical   Text-book   of  Plant   Physiology,   while   a   later 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  189 

work  by  Clements  has  the  same  aim  for  the  combined 
field  indicated  by  its  title,  Plant  Physiology  and  Ecology. 
These  works  mark  a  transition  over  to  books  devoted 
entirely  to  the  laboratory  treatment  of  the  subject,  of 
which,  for  advanced  work,  the  most  influential  have  been 
Detmer's  Practical  Plant  Physiology,  and  Darwin 
and  Acton's  Practical  Physiology  of  Plants,  both  of  them 
works  of  a  high  order,  which,  however,  I  have  had  the 
assurance  to  try  to  supersede  by  a  work  of  my  own  men- 
tioned below.  For  more  elementary  use,  there  are,  aside 
from  Atkinson's  very  elementary  First  Studies  of  Plant 
Life,  and  MacDougal's  brief  Nature  and  Work  of  Plants, 
a  good  little  work  by  the  latter  writer,  Elementary  Plant 
Physiology,  while  Osterhout's  Experiments  with  Plants 
is  a  very  admirable  handbook  for  the  simplest  physio- 
logical experimentation.  Finally,  I  have  myself  recently 
published  the  second  edition  of  my  Laboratory  Course  in 
Plant  Physiology,  which  attempts  to  treat  the  practical 
teaching  of  Plant  Physiology  from  the  point  of  view  of 
both  the  advanced  and  the  elementary  teacher,  and  aims 
to  constitute  a  monographic  handbook  of  information 
upon  the  educational  phases  of  the  subject.  And  I  may 
add  that  another  work  of  my  own,  intended  to  set  forth 
our  present  knowledge  of  the  phenomena  of  plant  life, 
not  in  form  of  a  text-book  but  rather  as  a  work  for  the 
general  reader,  is  expected  to  appear  within  a  year  in  the 
Nature  Series  of  Messrs.  Henry  Holt   &  Co. 


I  go  THE   TEACHING   BOTAJSTlST 

A  division  of  Physiology  which  has  grown  rapidly  of 
late  is  Ecology  (spelled  also  (Ecology),  and  it  is,  indeed, 
itself  differentiating  into  two  subdivisions,  which  may  be 
termed  general  ecology  and  ecological  plant  geography. 
Upon  general  ecology  the  greatest  work  is  Keener' s 
Natural  History  of  Plants,  a  superbly-illustrated  four- 
volume  work,  which  is  a  perfect  treasury  of  ecological 
information  and  suggestion.  It  must  be  used  with  some 
caution,  however,  since  its  author  is  over-sanguine  at 
times  in  his  discovery  of  adaptations  where  others  have 
not  been  able  to  sec  them.  But  the  student  needs  to 
learn  this  caution  for  all  books,  which  he  should  read  in 
the  knowledge  that  a  thing  is  not  necessarily  true  because 
told,  even  in  the  most  assertive  of  tones,  in  the  very  best 
of  books.  One  of  the  most  important  topics  of  general 
ecology  is  the  transport  of  pollen,  or  cross-pollination,  of 
plants;  and  upon  this  there  is  an  ecological  classic,  of 
which  the  introduction  gives  the  best  synoptical  exposition 
of  the  subject  we  yet  possess,  namely,  Muller's  Fertili- 
zation of  Flowers,  which,  however,  in  its  detail,  is  being 
superseded  by  Knuth's  cyclopedic  work,  now  complete 
in  three  volumes,  Handbook  of  Floral  Pollination.  In 
this  connection  every  one  will  think  of  Darwin's  researches, 
and  three  of  his  books,  The  Various  Contrivances  by 
which  Orchids  are  Fertilized  by  Insects,  The  Effects  of 
Cross  and  Self  Fertilization  in  the  Vegetable  Kingdom,  and 
Different  Forms  of  Flowers  on  Plants  of  the  Same  Species, 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS    AND   THEIR    USE  19I 

arc,  and  will  remain,  standard  authorities  in  their  par- 
ticular fields.  These  works,  indeed,  are  of  the  only  type 
which  in  Science  retains  permanent  value  and  cannot  be 
superseded,  —  namely,  those  which  are  not  compilations, 
but  contain  original  data  taken  for  the  first  time  direct 
from  Nature.  Brief  and  popular  expositions  of  cross- 
pollination  are  gi\'en  by  Lubbock,  in  his  Flowers,  Fruits, 
and  Leaves,  by  A.  Gray,  in  a  short  book  all  too  little  known, 
How  Plants  Behave,  and  in  his  several  text-books,  while 
there  is  an  admirable  popular  account  of  the  subject, 
beautifully  written  and  illustrated,  by  W.  H,  Gibson,  in 
his  Blossom  Hosts  and  Insect  Guests.  Another  very 
attractive  phase  of  general  ecology  concerns  the  transport 
or  dissemination  of  plants,  upon  which,  curiously  enough, 
while  there  is  an  abundance  of  special  literature,  there 
is  as  yet  no  accessible  comprehensive  work,  though  some 
of  the  more  interesting  facts  are  well  told  by  Beal,  in  his 
Seed  Dispersal,  and  more  simply  by  Weed,  in  his  Seed 
Travelers.  Another  phase  of  general  ecology  is  represented 
by  Darwin's  Insectivorous  Plants,  and  another  by  his 
Movements  and  Habits  of  Climbing  Plants  and  his  Power 
of  Movement  in  Plants,  all  of  which  are  books  of  the 
same  foundational  character  as  the  others  of  Darwin's 
above  mentioned. 

Turning  to  the  other  phase  of  ecology,  viz.  plant  geog- 
raphy, we  possess  two  books  of  preeminent  merit,  Schim- 
per's  Plant  Geography  on  a  Physiological  Basis,  a  thor- 


192     ■  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

oughly-scientific,  clearly-written,  and  splendidly-illustrated 
exposition  of  the  characteristics  of  the  different  types  of 
vegetation  of  the  world,  and  Warming's  (Ecology  of 
Plants,  devoted  to  the  study  of  plant  communities,  a  work 
of  the  greatest  authority,  clearness,  and  comprehensive- 
ness, invaluable  to  every  person  interested  in  the  study 
of  vegetation.  These  works  could  hardly  be  more  satis- 
factory in  their  special  fields,  and  would  that  we  had  more 
like  them!  Warming's  work  is  not  illustrated,  but  in 
this  connection  one  recalls,  the  splendid  photographs  of 
vegetation  now  being  issued  by  Karsten  and  Schenck, 
and  already  mentioned  under  the  chapter  on  Botanical 
Illustrations.  It  is  this  type  of  ecology  which  is  treated  in 
Clements's  work  already  mentioned,  and  it  receives  much 
attention  from  most  of  the  recent  American  text-books. 

The  reader  will  have  noticed  ere  this  that  I  am  citing, 
as  a  rule,  only  books  in  the  English  tongue.  This  is  by 
no  means  because  I  am  unmindful  of  the  abundance  of 
great  books  in  other  languages,  but  simply  because  I 
know  that  in  practice,  only  a  few  either  of  our  teachers 
or  our  students  can  really  make  use  of  works  not  in  English. 
Moreover,  practically  every  foreign  book  of  real  im- 
portance to  the  general  student  is  now  translated  into 
English,  a  field  of  educational  activity  which  English- 
men have  made  particularly  their  own.  Thus,  several 
of  the  more  important  of  the  works  mentioned  on  the  last 
few  pages  are  translations  from  the  German,  and  for  the 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR    USE  193 

most  part  are  published  in  beautiful  form  by  the  Claren- 
don Press,  of  Oxford.  For  this  great  educational  service, 
I  venture  to  extend  the  thanks  of  my  fellow-teachers,  with 
my  own,  to  our  colleagues  across  the  water. 

We  turn  now  to  books  which  deal  with  the  study  of  the 
groups  of  plants,  and  at  the  outset  we  must  make  some 
distinction  between  works  devoted  to  the  natural  history 
of  plants,  that  is,  to  their  habits,  structure,  adaptations, 
ranges,  uses,  and  the  like,  and  works  devoted  purely  to 
their  natural  relationships  as  expressed  in  classification. 
Upon  the  natural  history  of  all  the  great  groups  there  is 
no  modern  work  in  English,  but  there  is  an  authoritative 
and  splendidly- illustrated  great  w^ork  in  German,  namely, 
Engler  and  Prantl's  Die  naturlichen  Pflanzenfamilien, 
now  nearly  completed  in  some  twenty  large  volumes,  whose 
bulk  and  cost  will  prevent  their  translation.  This  is  de- 
voted to  the  families  of  plants  and  their  principal  genera, 
but  under  Engler's  editorship  a  new  work  is  appearing 
entitled  Das  Pjlanzenreich  [The  Plant  Kingdom],  intended 
to  treat  in  a  thorough  manner  all  the  species  of  plants  of 
the  world.  Some  forty  parts,  a  few  in  English,  have  so 
far  appeared,  but  it  will  require  many  years  and  dozens  of 
volumes  to  complete  it.  Of  more  synoptical  works,  one 
of  the  best  is  Le  Maout  and  Decaisne's  General  System 
of  Botany,  now  unfortunately  becoming  obsolete  through 
age,  but  otherwise  the  very  type  of  what  such  a  work 
should  be.     A  briefer  work,  now  also  in  need  of  revision, 


194  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

is  Warming's  Handbook  of  Systematic  Botany.  A  very 
excellent  synopsis  of  all  the  groups  is  contained  in  Camp- 
bell's University  Text-hook  of  Botany,  while  several  of 
the  recent  advanced  text-books,  notably  Schenck  and 
Karsten's  part  of  Strasburger's  Text-hook  of  Botany, 
and  Bergen  and  Davis's  Principles  of  Botany,  contain  ad- 
mirable synopses  of  the  natural  history  of  the  groups,  —  in 
all  cases,  however,  with  more  emphasis  on  morphology 
than  upon  natural  history.  Of  works  treating  the  natural 
history  of  particular  groups,  there  are  several  of  great  ex- 
cellence. Upon  the  trees  of  North  America,  north  of  Mex- 
ico, there  is  a  superb  work,  one  of  the  very  finest  publica- 
tions of  any  kind  ever  published  in  any  country,  in  four- 
teen great  volumes.  The  Silva  of  North  America,  by  C.  S, 
Sargent,  who  has  also  published  a  synoptical  Manual 
of  the  Trees  of  North  America,  which  is  our  standard  work 
for  their  identification  and  characteristics.  So  attractive, 
indeed,  is  this  group  of  the  American  trees  that  we  are 
almost  embarrassed  by  a  richness  of  good  works  upon 
them,  for  there  is  also  a  very  authoritative  and  distinctive 
Hand-hook  of  the  Trees  of  the  Northern  States  and  Canada 
East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  by  R.  B.  Hough,  and  a  yet 
more  recent  and  very  admirable  work,  North  American 
Trees,  by  N.  L.  Brixton,  which  is  more  especially  a  natural 
history  than  either  of  the  two  just  mentioned.  Upon  the 
trees  of  New  England  in  particular,  there  is  a  very  satis- 
factory little  Handbook  by  Dame  and  Brooks.     Belong- 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  195 

ing  here  also  is  Penhallow's  Manual  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican Gymnos perms,  notable  for  the  completeness  of  its 
treatment  of  the  microscopical  characters  of  the  wood  of 
these  trees.  And  there  are  also  many  popular  books, 
diverse  in  merit,  of  which  I  know  little. 

The  reader  will  notice  that  when  I  speak  of  popular 
books,  I  am  obliged,  as  a  rule,  to  confess  ignorance  of  them. 
This,  however,  is  my  misfortune.     I  know  that  many  of 
these  books  are  admirable    in  spirit   and  matter,  and  a 
source  of  pleasure  to  many  people  to  whom  more  scien- 
tific works  are  unavailable.     Fortunately  we  are  free  in 
Botany  (thanks,  probably,  to  the  nature  of  the  subject) 
from  the  works  of  those  shallow  pretenders  to  natural 
knowledge  who  write  charming  lies  about  animals  and 
declare  them  truths;  and  the  faults  of  popular  botanical 
books  are  mostly  those  of  the  head  rather  than  of  the 
spirit.     I  do  not  know  the  popular  botanical  books,  partly 
because  I  have  not  the  time  to  become  familiar  with  them, 
and  partly  because  I  do  not  think  that  any  person  who  can 
make  use  of  the  authoritative  scientific  works  can  find 
permanent   satisfaction    in    using   the    imperfect   popular 
ones.     In  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  one  can  afford  to 
have  nothing  less  than  the  very  best,  and  the  scientific 
works,  even  though  far  harder  and  less  interesting  to  use, 
yield  a  satisfaction  and  sense  of  security  which  repay  many- 
fold  the  additional  expense  and  trouble  which  they  entail. 
We  turn  now  from  the  works  on  the  natural  history  of 


196  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

plants  to  those  which  deal  purely  with  classification,  — 
those    technically    known    as    taxonomic    works.  '  These 
give  synoptical   descriptions  of  characters  having  classi- 
ficatory  value,    names,  ranges,  and    interrelationships  of 
plants,  together  with  artificial  keys  which  permit  the  iden- 
tity of  an  unknown  plant  to  be  determined.     Most  of  the 
natural  history  works  give  such  data  and  keys,  and  all 
should  do  so;    and  no  doubt  the  ideal  Manual  of   the 
future  will  give  the  essential  facts  in  the  anatomy,  mor- 
phology, physiology,  ecology,  and  economics  of  each  plant, 
on  a  system  and  in  a  language  as  definite  as  that  which 
now  expresses  the  taxonomic  characters.     For  the  wild 
flowTring   plants   of   the   northeastern   quarter   of    North 
America,  we  have  two  works  remarkable  for  their  com- 
pleteness and  accuracy,  Brixton's  Manual  of  the  Flora 
of  tJte  Northern  States  and  Canada,  and  Robinson  and 
Fernald's  seventh    edition  of   Gray's  Manual.     These 
works  cover  the  same  ground,  and  describe  the  same  plants 
on  the  same  plan ;   and  they  differ  from  one  another,  aside 
from  minor  details,  chiefly  in  the  matter  of  the  scientific 
names  of  these  plants,  a  considerable  number  of  which 
are  different   in   the   two  books.     The  meaning  of  this 
difference  in  nomenclature  I  shall  try  to  explain  in  the 
chapter  which   follows.     Of  the   two,   however,    Gray's 
Manual  has  the  merit  of  greater  newness,  of  exact  agree- 
ment with  the  system  of  scientific  names  adopted  by  an 
International  Botanical  Congress  since  Brixton's  book  was 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR    USE  197 

published,  of  more  abundant  keys  to  aid  in  identification, 
and  of  many  clear  little  pictures  of  plants  whose  identi- 
fication is  difficult.  As  concerns  illustrations,  however, 
there  is  another  work,  by  Britton  and  Brown,  viz.  the 
Illustrated  Flora,  which  includes  the  same  plants,  on  the 
same  system  of  nomenclature,  as  Britton' s  Manual, 
but  illustrates  every  species  by  a  simple  outline  cut.  For 
the  plants  of  the  southeastern  United  States  there  is  an 
exhaustive  recent  work.  Small's  Flora  of  the  Southeastern 
United  States,  which  in  a  measure  supersedes  the  older 
Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.  For  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region  there  is  a  Manual  by  Coulter, 
of  which  a  new  edition,  revised  by  Nelson,  has  recently 
appeared.  These  are  all  of  the  comprehensive  manuals  yet 
published  for  the  flora  of  North  America,  but  a  dozen 
or  more  good  local  floras  exist  for  particular  sections, 
merging  off  without  break  into  innumerable  local  lists,  all 
rather  too  special  for  mention  in  this  place.  But  each 
reader  who  may  have  interest  in  his  local  fiora  should 
make  sure  of  the  works  relating  thereto  by  writing  to 
the  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  nearest  large  university. 
Finally,  there  are  two  elaborate  but  still  incomplete  floras, 
covering  all  of  North  America,  north  of  Mexico,  the  older 
Synoptical  Flora  of  Gray  (continued  by  Watson  and 
Robinson)  and  the  newer  Flora  of  North  America  in 
course  of  publication  in  parts  by  Britton  and  others. 
Passing  to  the  lower  plants,  we  find  that  the  distinction 


ig8  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

between  works  on  natural  history  and  upon  classification 
is  less  marked,  and  tends  to  disappear  with  the  lowest 
groups.  The  Ferns  and  their  allies  (Pteridophytes)  are 
treated  as  to  their  classification  along  with  the  flowering 
plants  in  the  various  Manuals  already  mentioned.  But 
upon  their  natural  history  and  classification  together  we 
have,  for  North  America,  two  very  satisfactory  works: 
Eaton's  elaborate  and  beautifully- illustrated  monograph, 
The  Ferns  of  North  America j  and  Waters' s  more  synop- 
tical work.  Ferns,  a  Manual  for  the  Northeastern  States, 
the  latter  a  book  which  in  authority  and  clearness  of  text, 
and  completeness  and  accuracy  of  illustration,  forms  one 
of  the  most  satisfactory  books  we  possess  upon  the  natural 
history  of  any  group.  Of  a  more  technical  character, 
indeed  a  work  on  their  morphology  rather  than  their 
natural  history,  is  Campbell's  The  Structure  and  Develop- 
ment of  Mosses  and  Ferns,  while  of  a  more  popular  and 
synoptical  character  are  Clute's  Our  Native  Ferns  in 
their  Haunts,  and  The  Fern  Allies  of  North  America, 
both  excellent  works,  as  is  Underwood's  Our  Native 
Ferns  and  their  Allies.  On  the  Mosses  the  foundation 
work  is  Lesquereux's  Mosses  of  North  America,  which, 
however,  for  the  uses  of  the  teaching  botanist  is  super- 
seded by  Grout's  excellent  work.  Mosses  with  a  Hand 
Lens  and  Microscope,  while  Campbell's  work  above- 
mentioned  treats  their  morphology  especially.  Upon 
Liverworts  we  have  nothing  available  except  the  purely 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  199 

classificatory  treatment  by  Underwood  in  the  sixth 
edition  of  Gray's  Manual,  and  a  treatment  of  the  more 
prominent  forms  in  the  second  edition  of  Grout's  Mosses 
■with  a  Hand  Lens,  and  there  is  much  need  for  a  work, 
of  the  combined  natural  history  and  classification  type, 
upon  this  group.  Upon  Lichens  we  have  two  works  by 
Schneider,  his  Guide  to  the  Study  of  Licliens  and  his 
Text-hook  of  General  Lichenology,  which  give  keys  for  the 
identification  of  the  North  American  forms.  Upon  the 
Fungi  in  general  the  well-known  work  by  De  Bary, 
Comparative  Morphology  and  Biology  of  Fungi,  is  now 
obsolete  without  a  successor,  though  Massee's  Text-book 
of  Fungi  is  a  good  synopsis.  For  the  identification  of  the 
principal  genera  of  North  American  forms  we  have 
a  little  handbook  by  Underwood,  Molds,  Mildews, 
and  Mushrooms,  while  for  the  determination  of  the 
genera  of  Fungi  in  general  we  have  a  new  work,  The 
Genera  of  Fungi,  by  Clements,  Upon  the  particular 
groups  of  Fungi  which  rise  into  economic  importance, 
however,  we  have  some  good  books.  Thus,  upon  the 
Mushrooms,  we  have  a  very  authoritative  and  well-illus- 
trated work  in  Atkinson's  Mushrooms,  the  best  single 
book  on  the  subject;  but  there  are  also  some  elaborate 
books,  running  especially  to  colored  illustrations,  such  as 
MacIlvaine  and  Macadam's  One  Thousand  American 
Fungi,  and  some  others  of  popular  sort,  as  to  the  merits 
of  which  the  experts  are  not  convinced.     There  is  a  very 


200  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

excellent  and  attractive  popular  account  of  some  thirty 
of  the  more  prominent  kinds  in  Gibson's  Our  Edible 
Toadstools  and  Mushrooms  and  how  to  Distinguish  Them. 
Upon  those  Fungi  which  arc  the  causes  of  plant  diseases 
there  is  a  very  satisfactory  book  in  Tubeuf's  Diseases 
of  Plants  induced  by  Cryptogamic  Parasites,  a  general 
work  which,  however,  covers  the  principal  kinds  of 
America,  while  a  new  work,  applicable  especially  to  Amer- 
ica, has  just  appeared  in  Duggar's  Fungous  Diseases 
of  Plants.  Upon  the  Slime  Molds  we  have  an  excellent 
work,  combining  natural  history  and  classification,  in 
MacBride's  The  North  American  Slime  Molds.  Upon 
the  Bacteria  there  is  a  standard  general  work  in  Fischer's 
The  Structure  and  Functions  of  Bacteria,  while  those 
phases  of  the  subject  which  interest  the  teaching  botanist 
are  well  treated  in  Jordan's  recent  Text-book  of  General 
Bacteriology,  and  the  economics  of  the  commoner  kinds 
are  very  clearly  discussed  in  Conn's  Bacteria,  Yeasts,  and 
Molds  in  the  Home.  Upon  Algae,  our  literature  is  inade- 
quate. A  very  useful  general  work  on  the  subject  is 
Murray's  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Seaweeds.  For 
the  natural  history  and  classification  of  the  freshwater 
forms  we  have  a  very  satisfactory  new  work  in  Collins' s 
Green  Algce  of  the  United  States,  but  for  the  marine  Algae 
we  have  as  yet  nothing  in  the  way  of  a  general  handbook, 
Farlow's  well-known  Marine  Algce  of  New  England 
being  now  unobtainable. 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  20I 

From  this  summary  it  will  be  evident  that  while  we 
have  some  admirable  works  upon  the  natural  history 
and  classification  of  American  plants,  these  works  as 
a  whole  are  uneven  in  value  and  plan,  and  exhibit  great 
gaps.  There  is  need  for  a  thorough  treatment  of  all 
the  groups  upon  a  general  natural  history  basis,  giving 
for  each  its  structural  characters  and  classification 
(with  suitable  keys),  habitat  and  distribution,  and  a 
summan'  of  the  principal  facts  about  its  morphology 
physioIog}%  ecology,  economic  uses,  local  nomenclature, 
and  historical  or  folk-lore  associations.  Probably  in 
time  a  complete  series  of  such  works,  prepared  by 
botanists  who  can  command  both  expert  knowledge  and 
literary  skill,  will  appear.  It  is  obvious  that  the  field 
for  useful  botanical  endeavor  still  lies  wide  open  to  the 
capable  student. 

All  of  the  works  thus  far  mentioned  are  concerned  only 
with  wild  plants.  For  the  identification  of  those  of  garden 
and  greenhouse  we  have  as  yet  no  handbook  aside  from 
the  antiquated  and  imperfect  Field,  Forest,  and  Garden 
Botany  of  Asa  Gray,  and  in  all  the  range  of  educational 
botanical  literature  there  is  at  present  no  greater  need  than 
that  for  a  good  manual  of  cultivated  plants.  There  is, 
however,  an  invaluable  source  of  detailed  information 
about  cultivated  plants  in  a  work  which  is  one  of  the 
most  thorough  and  satisfactory  in  all  botanical  literature, 
the  Cyclopedia  of  American  Horticulture,  edited  by  L.  H. 


202  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Bailey  in  four  large  volumes,  the  later  issues  of  which 
contain  keys  for  the  identification  of  the  families  as  well 
as  of  the  genera  and  species. 

At  this  point  we  may  conveniently  take  note  of  several 
books  which  belong  under  none  of  our  formal  divisions, 
but  which  nevertheless  have  importance  for  the  teaching 
botanist.  Thus,  in  botanical  economics,  we  have  as  yet  no 
good  modern  work  to  replace  J.  Smith's  somewhat  anti- 
quated and  insufficient  Dictionary,  though  a  useful  little 
handbook  of  the  most  important  matters  is  Willis's 
Manual  and  Dictionary  of  Flowering  Plants.  On  Agricul- 
ture a  host  of  works  exists,  of  which  the  best  from  our 
present  point  of  view  is  Warren's  recent  Elements  of 
Agriculture,  while  a  great  work  upon  the  same  subject 
is  L.  H.  Bailey's  Cyclopedia  of  Agriculture,  in  four 
volumes.  Upon  those  plants  which  are  of  greatest  use  to 
man  there  is  an  admirable  botanical-economic  study  in 
Sargent's  Corn  Plants.  Upon  Soils  there  is  a  very 
authoritative  recent  work  in  Hilgard's  Soils,  their  For- 
mation, etc.  On  Forestry  we  have  two  satisfactory 
works,  Pinchot's  Primer  of  Forestry  and  Fernow's 
Economics  of  Forestry,  though,  of  course,  there  are 
many  other  good  books  on  this  important  subject. 
An  important  element  in  modern  progressive  agricul- 
ture is  Plant  Breeding,  and  an  admirable  study  of  its 
principles  is  contained  in  L.  H.  Bailey's  Plant  Breed- 
ing,   while    the    more    recent    practice    is    described    by 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE 


203 


De  Vries  in  his  book  under  the  same  title.  On  the 
important  and  well-known  work  of  Luther  Burbank  in 
plant  breeding,  there  is  an  account,  excellent  except  for  a 
certain  flamboyancy  of  treatment,  in  Harwood's  New 
Creations  in  Plant  Life.  On  the  medical  aspects  of  plant 
economics  an  excellent  synoptical  work  is  Kraemer's  Text- 
hook  of  Botany  and  Pharmacognosy.  Upon  plant  dis- 
eases in  general  there  is  an  admirable  little  work  by  Ward, 
Disease  in  Plants.  Concerning  plant  economics  in  gen- 
eral, it  may  be  said  that  the  most  important  of  all  accessible 
publications  are  those  issued  by  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture at  Washington ;  and  so  many  fields  do  these  touch, 
and  so  admirable  are  they,  for  the  most  part,  in  matter 
and  method,  that  whenever  the  teacher  seeks  informa- 
tion upon  any  economic  subject,  he  should  ascertain 
whether  it  is  not  covered  by  some  publication  of  that 
department.  And  there  is  about  them  this  further  ad- 
vantage, that  they  can  usually  be  obtained  without  charge 
for  educational  purposes.  On  Fossil  Plants  the  principal 
works  are  Solms-Laubach's  Introduction  to  Fossil  Bot- 
any, though  modem  activity  in  this  work  makes  it  badly 
in  need  of  revision,  and  Scott's  Studies  in  Fossil  Botany. 
On  the  definition  and  derivation  of  botanical  terms,  the 
only  book  is  Jackson's  Glossary  of  Botanic  Terms,  a  work, 
however,  almost  exclusively  taxonomic.  A  new  work  on 
the  history  of  Botany  is  Green's  History  of  Botany 
1860-1900,  a  continuation  of  Sachs's  History  mentioned 


204  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

a  few  pages  earlier.*  Upon  the  teaching  of  Botany  there 
is  another  book,  Lloyd's  part  of  Lloyd  and  Bigelow's 
Teaching  of  Biology  in  the  Secondary  School,  a  very 
excellent  work  closely  agreeing  with  this  book  in  method 
and  spirit,  though,  of  course,  differing  in  details. 

We  come  finally  to  text-books,  a  class  very  important 
to  the  teaching  botanist  but  very  difficult  to  discuss,  — 
for  the  obvious  reasons  which  make  it  impossible  for.  con- 
temporaries to  estimate  correctly  the  values  of  history. 
In  this  country,  to  a  greater  degree  than  in  others,  the  teach- 
ing of  Botany  has  experienced  a  complete  transformation 
within  the  quarter  century  just  closed;  for  it  has  passed  from 
a  system  based  almost  exclusively  on  formal  morphology 
and  classification,  studied  chiefly  from  text-books  with 
laboratory  illustration,  to  a  system  of  laboratory  study  of 
the  more  important  and  illuminating  matters  drawn  from 

*  Books  on  Nature  Study  hardly  fall  within  the  scope  of  this  book,  but 
should  be  treated  in  a  corresponding  work  devoted  to  that  distinct  and 
important  department  of  educational  activity.  Yet  the  teacher  may  have 
occasion  to  refer  to  them,  and  I  will  simply  mention  those  which  seem  to 
me  the  most  prominent.  They  are  E.  G.  Howes,  Advanced  Elementary 
Science  (New  York,  D.  Appleton  &  Co.) :  C.  F.  Hodge,  Nature  and 
Life  (Boston,  Ginn  &  Co.),  F.  L.  Holtz,  Nature  Study  (New  York,  Scrib- 
ner's):  J.  M.  and  J.  G.  Coulter  and  Alice  J.  Patterson,  Practical 
Nature  Study  and  Elementary  Agriculture  (New  York,  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.).  A  notable  discussion  of  the  true  educational  status  of  Nature 
Study  is  L.  H.  Bailey's  The  Nature  Study  Idea  (New  York,  Doubleday, 
Page  Co.),  while  the  subject  is  fortunate  in  having  devoted  to  it  an  ad- 
mirably-conducted journal.  The  Nature  Study  Review,  the  volumes  of 
which  constitute  one  of  the  best  of  treatises  on  its  subject. 


BOTANICAL- BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  205 

any  divisions  of  the  science,  correlated  and  extended  by 
use  of  the  text-book.  The  progress  of  the  transition  has 
been  marked  by  many  good  books,  rendered  obsolete  in 
succession  by  new  advances.  The  works  of  Asa  Gray 
mark  the  culmination  of  the  older  method.  His  three 
famous  books:  Hoiv  Plants  Gron',  for  the  lower  schools. 
Lessons  in  Botany,  rewritten  as  his  Elements  of  Botany,  for 
high  schools,  and  his  Structural  Botany,  for  colleges,  were 
not  only  unmatched  in  their  day,  but  within  their  limits 
they  probably  cannot  be  improved  upon  by  anybody.  It 
is  not  better  books  which  have  superseded  them,  but  books 
which  better  represent  the  state  of  the  advancing  science 
and  the  results  of  developing  educational  opinion.  They 
represented  a  stage  in  which  study  of  the  text-book 
formed  a  larger  part  of  botanical  instruction  than  did  study 
in  the  laboratory,  and  the  first  weakening  of  their  influence 
accompanied  the  rapid  rise  of  laboratory  study,  which  ex- 
pressed itself  in  the  production  of  laboratory  manuals,  — 
that  is  guides  to  laboratory  work,  which  were  not  text-books 
at  all.  The  change  came  earlier  abroad  than  with  us,  and  is 
most  conspicuously  marked  by  Huxley  and  Martin's  Prac- 
tical Biology,  which  was  a  guide  to  the  thorough  laboratory 
study  of  leading  plant  forms,  and  a  work  which  has  had 
a  very  great  influence  upon  biological  education.  This 
plan,  that  of  the  intensive  study  of  a  few  "types,"  was 
adopted  in  Arthur,  Barnes,  and  Coulter's  Handbook  of 
Plant  Dissection,  in   Sedgwick   and   Wilson's   General 


2o6  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Biology,  in  Dodge's  Introduction  to  Elementary  Practical 
Biology,  and  in  Miss  Randolph's  Laboratory  Directions 
in  General  Biology.  The  same  method  and  idea,  of  a 
guide  to  practical  laboratory  study,  but  applied  variously 
to  the  more  general  study  of  a  larger  nurriber  of  types 
and  even  to  the  study  of  structural  and  ecological 
matters,  underlies  the  preparation  of  Spalding's  Guide 
to  the  Study  of  Common  Plants,  Setchell's  Laboratory 
Practice  for  Beginners  in  Botany  (a  work  prepared  upon  the 
unusual  plan  of  telling  the  student  in  detail  what  he  is  to 
see),  in  Clark's  Laboratory  Manual  of  Practical  Botany, 
in  MacBride's  Lessons  in  Botany,  in  Pepoon,  Mitchell, 
and  Maxwell's  Studies  of  Plant  Life,  in  Clements  and 
Cutter's  Laboratory  Manual  of  High  School  Botany,  in 
Caldwell's  Laboratory  Manual  of  Botany,  and  his  Hand- 
hook  of  Plant  Morphology  (the  latter  a  modernized  edition 
of  Arthur,  Barnes,  and  Coulter's  Handbook  of  Plant 
Dissection),  and  in  Clute's  recent  Laboratory  Botany  for 
the  High  School.  The  same  spirit  of  reaction  from  text- 
books towards  guides  to  practical  work  showed  itself  for 
field  studies  in  Miss  Newell' s  excellent  Outlines  of  Les- 
sons in  Botany,  with  their  accompanying  Readers,  and  also 
in  Bailey's  more  advanced  Lessons  ivith  Plants.  At  the 
same  time  the  reaction  from  the  purely  structural  and 
classificatory  material  of  the  older  instruction  began  to 
show  in  the  production  of  text-books  of  the  synthetic 
type,  which  also  appeared  abroad  before  they  did  with  us. 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  207 

The  first  of  these  in  this  country,  and  a  book  which  has 
had  a  wide  influence  in  directing  later  work,  was  Bessey's 
Botany  for  High  Schools  and  Colleges. 

The  rise  of  the  laboratory  manuals  threw  the  text-books 
for  a  time  into  the  background,  and  many  teachers  at- 
tempted to  dispense  with  them  altogether,  thinking  it  best 
that  the  student  should  learn  wholly  from  nature  with  only 
such  other  aid  as  the  teacher  himself,  or  certain  reference 
works,  could  supply.  Experience,  however,  soon  showed 
that  laboratory  study,  while  absolutely  essential  for  the 
training  of  natural  powers  and  the  correct  understanding 
of  natural  facts  and  phenomena,  by  itself  gives  an  imperfect 
knowledge  of  the  subject.  Dealing  as  it  necessarily  does, 
even  at  its  best,  with  a  few  selected  types,  the  view  it  gives 
is  more  or  less  disconnected,  disproportioned,  and  incom- 
plete, the  more  especially  since  many  topics  of  the  greatest 
importance  cannot,  for  practical  reasons,  be  introduced  into 
the  laboratory  at  all.  Of  course,  instruction  by  lectures, 
demonstration,  and  reference-reading  partly  overcomes 
these  drawbacks,  but  a  substantial  agreement  gradually 
developed  to  the  effect  that  not  only  is  the  text-book  neces- 
sary for  correlating  and  welding  together  the  laboratory 
topics,  but  it  is  positively  desirable  as  a  source  of  accurate 
botanical  information  which  the  students  can  be  required 
to  study  with  care,  and  for  a  knowledge  of  which  they 
can  be  held  responsible.  One  objection  to  its  use,  that 
students     rely    upon     it    for     information     rather     than 


2o8  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

on  their  own  laboratory  observation,  is  readily  met  by  a 
requirement  that  the  reading  must  follow  and  not  precede 
the  laboratory  study.  Hence  a  new  type  of  book  arose, 
combining  laboratory  manual,  or  at  least  practical  direc- 
tions for  laboratory  work,  and  text-book.  At  the  same 
time  it  was  becoming  more  evident  than  ever  that  the  con- 
ditions of  botanical  education  in  this  country  require  the 
existence  of  three  grades  of  general  text-books,  —  a  simpler 
grade  for  high  schools  which  possess  indifferent  facilities,  or 
which  can  give  but  a  half  year  to  the  science,  an  interme- 
diate grade  for  high  schools  which  have  good  facilities  and 
which  give  a  year  to  the  subject,  and  an  advanced  grade  for 
normal  school  and  college  classes.  Of  the  simpler  grade, 
one  of  the  first  of  the  new  type  to  appear  was  Bessey's 
Essentials  of  Botany,  and  it  was  followed  by  Bergen's 
Eletnents  of  Botany,  while  later  came  Bailey's  Botany, 
an  Elementary  Text  for  Schools,  Barnes's  Outlines 
oj  Plant  Life,  Atkinson's  Lessons  in  Botany,  Leavitt's 
Outlines  of  Botany  (which  is  a  revision  of  Gray's 
Lessons  in  Botany),  Coulter's  Plant  Studies,  Andrews's 
Botany  All  the  Year  Round,  \v\\\\q  most  recent  of 
all  is  a  Beginners'  Botany  by  L.  H.  Bailey.  Here  also 
belongs  Spotton's  Elements  of  Structural  Botany,  a  work 
very  extensively  used  in  Canada.  Belonging  in  this  class 
also  are  those  works  including  a  botanical  half  of  a  year's 
course  in  Biology,  the  most  recent  of  which  are  Hunter's 
Elements  of  Biology  (intended  especially  for  the  specifica- 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR    USE  209 

tions  of  the  New  York  high  schools),  and  Bailey  and  Cole- 
man's First  Course  in  Biology,  while  announcement  has 
been  made  of  a  new  work  soon  to  appear,  Applied  Biology, 
with  a  Teacher's  Handbook,  by  M.  I,  Bigelow. 

Some  of  the  books  in  the  list  above,  as  likewise  some 
in  the  list  two  pages  later,  show  a  transition  from  the 
older  to  the  newer  instruction  in  the  provision  of  an 
abbreviated  flora,  added  as  an  appendix,  for  the  identifi- 
cation of  local  plants.  i\nother  persistence  of  the  older 
type  is  found  in  the  several  "  Notebooks  "  issued  by  dif- 
ferent firms,  with  suitable  outlines  for  floral  analysis. 
Other  prepared  notebooks  are  also  issued  with  printed 
directions  and  blank  space  for  the  records  of  various 
exercises,  the  most  prominent  of  which  is  Bergen's,  pre- 
pared to  accompany  his  text-books.^ 

In  reading  these  notes  upon  text-books,  and  likewise  those 
which  will  follow,  the  reader  may  feel  bewildered  in  the 
midst  of  their  number,  and  disappointed  that  I  do  not 
more  definitely  characterize  their  relative  merits.  But  in 
truth  this  would  be  an  impossible  task.  In  the  first  place 
they  are  all  good  books,  any  one  of  which  would  have 
stood  out  a  generation  ago  as  a  work  of  conspicuous  merit. 

^  Published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  who  also  publish  W.  H.  D. 
Meiers's  Plant  Study  and  Description.  A  National  Biology  Notebook, 
notebook  and  text-book  in  one,  by  A.  S.  Dewing,  is  published  by  the 
Knott  Apparatus  Co.,  of  Boston.  The  best-known  notebook  for  use  in 
plant  analysis  of  the  older  type  is  Apgar's  New  Plant  Analysis,  published 
by  the  American  Book  Co.  New  York. 


2IO  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

The  conditions  of  publication  of  text-books  nowadays,  — 
the  closeness  of  competition  between  publishers  in  face  of 
the  excellence  of  books  already  in  the  field,  the  care  that 
most  authors  now  take  to  have  their  chapters  revised  by 
experts  in  the  various  subjects,  and  the  custom  of  publishers 
to  ask  competent  advice  upon  manuscripts  before  their  ac- 
ceptance for  publication,  all  combine  to  make  it  well-nigh 
impossible  for  a  poor  book  to  come  into  the  market  at  all,  even 
though  these  precautions  do  not  suffice  to  preclude  some 
minor  flaws  in  the  best.  There  is  no  criticism  of  our  modern 
text-books  on  the  ground  of  inaccuracy  or  incompleteness; 
it  falls  wholly  upon  the  proportioning  of  topics  and  practi- 
cability in  class  use,  both  of  which  are  matters  of  individual 
conviction  and  local  needs.  While,  therefore,  I  have  opin- 
ions upon  most  of  these  works,  I  know  they  would  be  shared 
as  a  whole  by  nobody  else,  and  hence  I  suppress  them 
and  leave  to  the  reader  a  field  that  is  clear  for  his  own.  I 
think  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  text-book  ever  fits  exactly  any 
teacher's  needs  except  the  one  he  writes  for  himself,  and 
that  not  for  long,  though  I  hasten  to  add  that  this  statement 
is  not  designed  to  encourage  all  teachers  to  write  books 
for  themselves.^ 

*  It  will  be  observed  that  in  this  summary  account  of  text-books,  I  say 
nothing  about  the  foreign  ones  except  in  the  few  cases  where  there  are 
American  editions.  This  is  not,  of  course,  because  ours  are  better,  but 
because  they  are  better  adapted  to  our  methods  of  instruction,  as,  of 
course,  the  foreign  ones  are  to  foreign  methods.  It  is,  however,  but  fair 
to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  our  own  instruction  has  been  profoundly 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR    USE  211 

We  pass  now  to  the  works  of  intermediate  grade,  those 
designed  for  a  year's  work  in  high  schools  having  good  facili- 
ties. In  these  we  note  the  beginning  of  a  tendency  which 
is  almost  invariably  carried  out  in  the  more  advanced  books, 
of  separating  the  laboratory  directions  and  text-book. 
The  most  prominent  works,  for  this  grade,  which  combine 
the  two  are  Atkinson's  Elementary  Botany,  Bergen's 
Foundations  of  Botany  (with  its  accompanying  Handbook 
for  teachers),  together  with  his  nearly  identical  though 
somewhat  enlarged  and  more  recent  Essentials  of  Botany, 
and  Stevens's  Introduction  to  Botany,  all  of  them  works 
of  the  first  class.  Other  works  which  show  a  tendency 
to  the  separation  of  laboratory  directions  and  text-book, 
are  Campbell's  Elements  of  Structural  and  Systematic 
Botany,  Barnes's  Plant  Life,  which  relegates  the  labora- 
tory directions  to  an  Appendix,  and  Coulter's  Plants,  a 
Text-hook  of  Botany,   which    is    made    up  of  his    Plant 

aflfected  in  the  past  by  certain  foreign  books,  notably  by  the  English  trans- 
lations of  Sachs's  great  Text-book,  a  work  which  more  than  any  other 
served  to  introduce  the  synthetic  conception  into  our  instruction.  The 
translation  of  Thome's  Structural  and  Physiological  Botany  was  also  a 
good  deal  used  in  this  country.  The  great  influence  exerted  by  Huxley 
and  Martin's  Practical  Biology  is  well  known,  but  Bower  and  Vines's 
Course  of  Practical  Instruction  in  Botany  also  had  considerable  in- 
fluence. Of  the  English  text-books  now  in  use  the  most  important 
known  to  me  are  Vines's  Text-book  of  Botany,  Farmer's  Practical 
Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Botany,  Groom's  Elementary  Botany,  and 
Lowson's  Text-book  of  Botany.  Another  recent  foreign  book  of  dis- 
tinctive interest  is  Bertha  Stoneman's  Plants  and  their  Ways  in  South 
Africa, 


212  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Relations  and  Plant  Structures  bound  together,  to  each  of 
which  there  is  a  small  separate  Suggestions  to  Teachers, 
devoted  chiefly  to  laboratory  matters.  A  new  work  for 
high  schools,  announced  as  soon  to  appear,  by  Atkinson, 
is  also  expected  to  belong  to  this  grade. 

Finally,  we  come  to  text-books  of  advanced  grade, 
suitable  only  for  the  exceptionally  equipped  high  school 
and  designed  rather  for  normal  school  and  college.  In 
these,  with  the  single  exception  of  Atkinson's  College  Text- 
hook  of  Botany,  the  laboratory  directions  are  either  trans- 
ferred to  a  separate  small  volume,  or  are  omitted  altogether, 
so  that  the  text-book  is  a  reading-and-study  book  pure  and 
simple.  Exactly  of  this  type  is  Bergen  and  Davis's  Princi- 
ples of  Botany,  with  its  accompanying  Laboratory  and 
Field  Manual  of  Botany,  which  represent  the  most  recent 
and  highest  development  of  this  type  of  book.  The  tend- 
ency thus  to  separate  laboratory  directions  from  text-book 
is  increasing,  and  will  no  doubt  in  time  prevail  in  all  books 
intended  for  this  grade,  since  it  permits  far  greater  flexibility 
of  instruction,  and  much  better  adaptation  to  local  con- 
ditions and  individual  methods.  It  is,  of  course,  the  logical 
application  of  this  principle  which  has  produced  this  book,, 
or  at  least  the  second  part  of  it.  Of  text-books  proper 
we  have  Bessey's  Botany  for  High  Schools  and  Colleges, 
•  CuRTis's  Text-hook  of  General  Botany,  and  his  more  recent 
Nature  and  Development  of  Plants.  Campbell's  Uni- 
versity Text-hook  of  Botany  belongs  rather  with  advanced 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  213 

classes  in  morphology,  since  it  is  almost  whplly  devoted  to 
the  groups,  while  Kraemer's  Text-book  of  Botany  and 
Pharmacognosy  is  designed  rather  for  students  of  Phar- 
macy. Typical  books  of  this  type  are  Vines's  Eletnentary 
Text-book  of  Botany  and  the  Text-book  of  Botany  by 
Strasburger,  Noll,  Schenck  and  Karsten,  a  work  quite 
unmatched  for  its  combination  of  high  authority,  wealth  of 
condensed  material,  and  profusion  of  good  illustration. 
A  new  work,  apparently  of  similar  type  and  scope,  is  an- 
nounced as  soon  to  appear,  by  Coulter  and  others  of  the 
University  of  Chicago.  Some  of  these  works,  in  conse- 
quence no  doubt  of  the  cooperation  of  several  in  their 
authorship,  show  a  sharp  separation  of  the  morphology  from 
the  physiology,  though  the  modern  tendency  in  all  of  our 
instruction  is  towards  a  synthetic  treatment  in  which  these 
phases  are  welded  together  at  the  places  of  their  most 
natural  connection. 

Such  are  the  existent  books  of  concern  to  the  botanical 
teacher,  as  I  understand  them.  So  great  is  the  abun- 
dance of  good  material  on  the  educational  phases  of  our 
subject  that  it  sometimes  appears  as  if  we  were  nearing 
a  condition  in  which  it  is  no  longer  a  problem  to  find  good 
books,  but  attentive  readers.  Nevertheless,  as  I  have 
earlier  shown,  there  are  still  many  gaps  to  be  filled.  If 
the  reader  finds  need  of  any  further  information  upon 
this  subject,  I  advise  him  to  write  to  the  nearest  univer- 


214  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

sity  professor  of  Botany,  whose  duty  it  is  to  know  these 
things,  and  whose  pleasure  it  ought  to  be  to  give  advice 
about  them. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A  bibliographical  synopsis  of  the  works  mentioned  (exclusive  of 
those  in  footnotes)  in  this  work.  The  prices,  for  bound  copies,  are 
taken  from  publishers'  lists,  and  are  sometimes  subject  to  discount,  while 
the  prices  for  books  printed  in  England  are  some  forty  per  cent  (twenty- 
five  per  cent  if  unbound)  less  if  imported  duty-free  for  educational  in- 
stitutions. Care  should  be  taken  to  ask  always  for  the  latest  editions, 
for  which,  of  course,  the  prices  are  given  in  this  list. 

American  Botanist.     Published  by  W.  N.  Clute,  Joliet,  111.    6  numbers 

a  year,     75  cents. 
Andrews,  E.  F.     Botany  All  the  Year  Round.     New  York.     American 

Book  Co.     1903.     $1.00;  with  Flora,  $1.50. 
Arthur,    J.  C,  Barnes,  C.  R.,  and  Coulter,  J.  M.     Handbook  oj 

Plant  Dissection.     New  York.     Henry  Holt  &  Co.     1887.     $1.20. 

See  also  Caldwell,  O.  W.,  Handbook  of  Plant  Morphology. 
Arthur,    J.   C,   and   MacDougal,   D.   T.     Living  Plants  and  their 

Properties.     New  York.     Baker    &  Taylor.     1898.     $1.25. 
Atkinson,  G.  F. 

(i)    Elementary    Botany.     New  York.     Henry  Holt    &  Co.     1898. 
$1.25. 

(2)  Lessons  in  Botany.     New  York.      Henry  Holt   &  Co.     1900. 

$1.12. 

(3)  Mushrooms,  Edible,  Poisonous,  etc.     New  York.     Henry  Holt 

&  Co.     1903.     $3.00. 

(4)  First  Studies  of  Plant  Life.    Boston.     Ginn  &Co.    1901.    $1.00. 

(5)  A  College  Text-book  of  Botany.     New  York.     Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

1905.     $2.00. 
Bailey,- L.  H. 

(i)    The  Survival  of  the  Unlike.     New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co. 
1896  and  later.     $2.00. 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  215 

(2)  Lessons  with  Plants.     New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.      1898. 

$1.10. 

(3)  Plant     Breeding.     New     York.     The     Macmillan     Co.     1895 

and  later.     $1.25. 

(4)  Botany,  an   Elementary    Text  for   Schools.     New  York.     The 

Macmillan  Co.     1900  and  later.     $1.10. 

(5)  Beginners'  Botany.     New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1909. 

60  cents. 
Bailey,   L.   H.     (Editor). 

(i)    Cyclopedia    of    American    Horticulture.      New    York.      The 
Macmillan    Co.      4    vols.      1900-1902,    and    later    issues. 
$20.00. 
(2)  Cyclopedia   of  American  Agriculture.     New  York.     The  Mac- 
millan Co.    4  vols.  1907-1909.    $20.00. 
Bailey,  L.  H.,  and  Colem.^n,  W.  M.     First  Course  in  Biology.     New 

York.     The  Macmillan  Co.  1908.     $1.25. 
Bailey,    W.    W.     Botanizing.     Providence.      Preston  &    Rounds   Co. 

1907.     $1.00. 
B.\RXES,    C.    R. 

(i)   Plattt  Life,  considered  with  Special  Reference  to  Form  and  Func- 
tion.    New  York.     Henry  Holt  &  Co.     1898.     $1.12. 
(2)    Outlines   of  Plant  Life,  with   Special   Reference    to  Form   and 
Fu7iction.     New  York.     Henry  Holt  &  Co.     1900.     $1.00. 
Beal,  W.  J.     Seed  Dispersal.     Boston.     Ginn   &  Co.     1808  and  later. 

60  cents. 
Bergen,  J.  Y. 

(i)   Elements  of  Botany.     Boston.     Ginn   &  Co.     1896  and  later. 
$1.00.     (Also  with  a  brief  Flora,  $1.30.) 

(2)  Foundations   of  Botany.     Boston.       Ginn     &    Co.     1901    and 

later.     $1.30.     (Also  with  a  brief  Flora,  $1.50.    A  Handbook 
for  teachers  is  supplied,  30  c.) 

(3)  Essentials  of  Botany.      Boston.     Ginn    &  Co.     1909.     $1.20. 

(Also  with  a  brief  Flora,  $1.50.) 
Bergen,  J.  Y.,  and  D.wis,  B.  M. 

(i)    Principles  of  Botany.      Boston.     Ginn    &   Co.     1906.     $1.50. 
(2)    Laboratory  and  Field  Manual  of  Botany  \\.o  accompany  the  pre- 

ceeding].     Boston.     Ginn   &  Co.     1907.     90  cents. 


2l6  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Bessey,  C.  E. 

(i)    Botany  for  High   Schools  and  Colleges.     New  York.     Henry 

Holt    &  Co.     1880  and  later  editions.     $2.20. 
(2)    The  Essentials  of  Botany.     New  York.     Henry  Holt    &  Co. 
1884  and  later.     $1.12. 
Botanical   Gazette.     Monthly.     Chicago.     The    University   of    Chicago. 

$7.00  per  year. 
Britton,  N.  L. 

(i)  Manual  of  the  Flora  of  the  Northern  States  and  Canada.     New 

York.     Henry  Holt  &  Co.     1901.     $2.25. 
(2)  North  American    Trees,  being  Descriptions  and  Illustrations  of 
the    Trees  growing  independently  of   Cultivation    in    North 
America,  North  of  Mexico,  and  the  West  Indies.     New  York. 
Henry  Holt   &  Co.     iqo8.     $7.00. 
Britton,  N.  L.  (Editor).    Flora  of  North  America.     Appearing  in  parts. 

New  York  Botanical  Garden. 
Britton,  N.  L.,  and  Brown,  A.     An  Illustrated  Flora  of  the  Northern 
United  States,  Canada,  etc.     New  York.     Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
3   vols.     1 896-1 898.     $4.00  a   volume. 
Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club.     Monthly.    Lancaster,  Pa.     $3.00 

a  year. 
Caldwell,  O.  W. 

«  (i)  Laboratory  Manual  of  Botany.  New  York.  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.  1902.  60  cents. 
(2)  Handbook  of  Plant  Morphology,  being  the  Handbook  of  Plant 
Dissection  by  J.  C.  Arthur,  Charles  R.  Barnes,  and  John 
M.  Coulter  revised  and  rewritten.  New  York.  Henry 
Holt  &  Co.  1904.  $1.00. 
Campbell,  D.  H. 

(i)  Elements  of  Structural  and  Systematic  Botany.     Boston.     Ginn  & 
Co.     1891..    $1.12.     (Gut  of  print.) 

(2)  The  Structure  and  Development  of  the  Mosses  and  Ferns.     New 

York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1895  and  later.     $4.50. 

(3)  Lectures  on  the  Evolution  of  Plants.     New  York.     The  Mac- 

millan Co.     1899.     $1.25. 

(4)  A  University  Text-book  of  Botany.     New  York.     The  Macmil- 

lan Co.     1902.     $4.00. 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR    USE  217 

Chamberlain,  C.  J.   Methods  in  Plant  Histology.    Chicago.    University 

of  Chicago  Press.     1901  and  later.     $2.25. 
Chapman,  A.  W.     Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  etc.     American 

Book  Co.     i860  and  later.     $4.00. 
Clark,  C.  H.      A  Laboratory  Manual  of  Practical  Botany.     New  York. 

American  Book  Co.     1898.     96  cents. 
Clements,  F.  E. 

(i)    Plant    Physiology   and    Ecology.      New    York.      Henry    Holt 
&    Co.     1907.     $2.00. 

(2)    The  Genera  of  Fungi.     Minneapolis.     N.  W.  Wilson  Co.     1909. 

$2. 10. 

Clements,  F.  E.,  and  Cutter,  I.  S.  A  Laboratory  Manual  of  High 
School  Botany.  Lincoln,  Neb.  University  Publishing  Co.  1900. 
75  cents. 

Clute,  W.  N.  . 

(i)   Our  Ferns  in  their  Haunts,  a  Guide  to  All  the  Native  Species. 
New  York.     F.  A.  Stokes  Co.     1901.     $2.00. 

(2)  The  Fern  Allies  of  North  A  merica,  North  of  Mexico.     New  York. 

F.  A.  Stokes  Co.     1905.     $2.00. 

(3)  Laboratory  Botany  for  the  High  School.     Boston.     Ginn  &  Co. 

1909.     75  cents. 
Collins,  F.  S.     Greeti  Algce  of  the  United  States.      Tufts  College  Studies. 

1909.     $3.50. 
Conn,  H.  W.     Bacteria,  Yeasts,  and  Molds  in  the  Home.     Boston.     Ginn 

&  Co."    1903.     $1.20. 
Coulter,  J.  M. 

(i)    Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Region.     New 
York.     American  Book  Co.     18S5.     $1.62.    See  Nelson,  A. 

(2)  Plants,  a    Text-book   of  Botany   [combining   two    books.  Plant 

Relations  and  Plant  Structures'].  New  York.  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.  1900.  (Suggestions  for  Teachers,  two  pamphlets, 
one  by  O.  W.  Caldwell,  are  supplied  with  this  work  to 
teachers.)     $1.80. 

(3)  Plant  Studies,  an  Elementary  Botany.     New  York.     D.  Appleton 

&  Co.     1900  and  later.     $1.25.     (Also  a  brief  Flora.) 
Coulter,  J.  M.,  and  Chamberlain,  C.  J. 

(i)    Morphology  of   Angiosperms.      New  York.      D.   Appleton  & 
Co.     1903.     $2.50. 


2l8  THE   TEACfflNG   BOTANIST 

(2)    Morphology  of  Spermatophytes :    Part  I,   Gymnosperms.     New 
York.     Dh  Appleton   &  Co.     1901.     $1.75. 
CXJRTIS,  C.  C. 

(i)    Text-hook  of  General  Botany.     New  York.     Longmans,  Green, 

&   Co.     1897.     $3.00. 
(2)    Nature  and  Development  of  Plants.     New  York.      Henry  Holt 
&  Co.     1907.     $2.50. 
Dame,  L.  L.,  and  Brooks,  H.     Handbook  of  the  Trees  of  New  England. 

Boston.     Ginn   &  Co.     1902.     $1.50. 
Darwin,  Charles. 

(i)    The  Origin  of  Species.     1885.     Sixth  edition.     $2. 00. 

(2)  Journal  of  Researches  into  the    Natural   History  and  Geology 

of  the  Countries  visited  during  the  Voyage  of  H.  M.  S.  Beagle 
round  the  World.     $2.00.     (Edition  by  Scribner's,  $1.00.) 

(3)  The  Power  of  Movement  in  Plants.     $2.00. 

(4)  Insectivorous  Plants.     $2.00. 

(5)  Movements  and  Habits  of  Climbing  Plants.     $1.25. 

(6)  The   Various  Contrivances  by  which  Orchids  are  Fertilized  by 

Insects.     $1.75. 

(7)  The   Effects   of  Cross   and   Self  Fertilization   in  tlte    Vegetable 

Kingdom.     $2.00. 

(8)  Different  Forms  of  Flowers  on  Plants  of  the  same  Species.     $1.50. 

All  published  by  D.  Appleton   &  Co.     New  York. 
Darwin,  F. 

(i)    The  Life  and  Letters  of  Charles  Darwin.     New  York.     D.  Ap- 
pleton  &  Co.     188S.     2  vols.     $4.50. 
(2)    More  Letters  of  Charles  Darwin.     New  York.      D.  Appleton  & 

Co.     1903.     2  vols.     $5.00. 
Darwin,  F.,  and  Acton,  E.  H.     Practical  Physiology  of  Plants.     Cam- 
bridge.     1894  and  later.       G.  P.   Putnam's  Sons.     $1.25. 
De  Bary,  a. 

(i)   Translated  by  Bower  and  Scott.     Comparative  Anatomy  of 

the   Vegetative  Organs  of  Phanerogams  and  Ferns.     O.xford. 

Clarendon  Press.     1884.     $6.75. 
(2)   Translated  by  H.  E.   F.    Garnsey.     Comparative  Morphology 

and   Biology  of  Fungi,  Mycetozoa,  and  Bacteria.       Oxford. 

Clarendon  Press.     1887.     $6.75. 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  219 

Detmer,     W.  Translated  by  S.  A.  Moor.     Practical  Plant  Physiology. 

New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1898.     $3.00. 
De   Vries,    H.      Plant   Breeding.      Comtnents   on   tlie   Experiments   oj 

Nilsson  and  Burbank.      Chicago.      Open    Court    Publishing    Co. 

1907.     $1.50. 
Dodge,    C.   W.     Introduction  to   Elementary  Practical   Biology.     New 

York.     Harpers.     1894.     $1.80. 
DuGGAR,  B.  M.     Fungous  Diseases  0/  Plants.     Boston.     Ginn    &  Co. 

1910.     $2.00. 
Eaton,    D.    C.     The    Ferns    of   North    America.      Boston.      Bradlee 

Whidden.     1893.     2  vols.     $20.00  per  volume. 
Eliot,  C.  W.     Educational  Reform.      New  York.      The  Century  Co. 

1898.     $2.00. 
Engler,  a.  (Editor).      Das  Pflanzenreich.      Leipzig.      W.  Engelmann. 

1900.     Appearing  in  parts,  of  which  about  40,  of  varying  size  and 

price,  are  published. 
Engler  and  Prantl.     Die  natilrlichen  Pflanzenfamilien.     Leipzig.    W. 

Engelmann.     1889.      Appearing   in  parts,  now   nearly  complete  in 

about  20  volumes. 
Farlow,  W.  G.     TJie  Marine  Alga  of  New  England.     Published  by  the 

United  States   Fish   Commission,   Washington.     i88r. 
Fernow,  B.  E.      Economics  of  Forestry.     New  York.     T.  Y.  Crowell  & 

Co.     1902.     $1.50. 
Fischer,  A.     Translated  by  A.  C.  Jones.     The  Structure  and  Functions 

of  Bacteria.     Oxford.     Clarendon  Press.     1900.     $2.50. 
Ganong,  W.    F.     a    Laboratory   Course   in  Plant   Physiology.     Second 

edition,    extended    to    form    a    Handbook    of   Experimentation  for 

Educational  Use.     New  York.     Henry  Holt  &  Co.     1908.     $1.75. 
Geddes,     p.     Chapters    in    Modern     Botany.     New     York.     Charles 

Scribner's  Sons.     1893.     $1.25. 
Gibson,  W.  H. 

(i)   Blossom  Hosts  and  Insect  Guests.     New  York.      Newson  &  Co. 
1901  and  later  editions.     80  cents. 

(2)    Our  Edible  Toadstools  and  Mushrooms,  and  how  to  Distinguish 
Them.     New  York.     Harpers.     1902.     $3.50. 
Goebel,  K. 

(i)    Translated  by   Garnsey  and   Balfour.     Outlines  of  Classi- 


220  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

fication  and  Special  Morphology  of  Plants.     Oxford.     Claren- 
don Press.     1887.     $9.25. 
(2)    Translated    by    I.    B.    Balfour.     Organography    of    Plants, 
especially  of  the  Archegonialce  and  Spermatophyta.     Oxford. 
Clarendon  Press.     1900-1905.     2  vols.     $10.00. 

GOODALE,  G.  L.      Physiological  Botany.      Vol.  II  of  Gray's  Botanical 
Text-book.     New  York.     American  Book  Co.     1885.     $2.00. 

Gray,  Asa. 

(i)    How  Plants  Grow.     A  Simple  Introduction  to  Structural  Botany. 
New  York.     American  Book  Co.     1858  and  later. 

(2)  Field,  Forest,  and  Garden  Botany.     Revised  by  L.  H.  Bailey. 

New  York.     American  Book  Co.      1868  and  later.      $1.44. 

(3)  How  Plants  Behave.     New  York.     American  Book  Co.     1875. 

54  cents. 

(4)  Structural  Botany.     Part    I    of    Gray's    Botanical    Text-hook. 

New  York.     American  Book  Co.     1880.     .$2.00. 

(5)  Elements  of  Botany.     New  York.     American  Book  Co.     18S7 

and  later  editions.     94  cents. 

(6)  Synoptical  Flora  of  North  America    (incomplete).     New  York. 

American  Book  Co.     1878  and  later.     (Each  part  $2.60.) 

(7)  Scientific     Writings.      Edited     by     C.    S.    Sargent.       Boston. 

Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.     2  vols.     1889.     $6.00. 

(8)  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United    States.      Sixth 

edition.     New    York.     American    Book    Co.     1890.     $1.62. 

Field    edition,    $2.00.     For    seventh    edition,    see    Robin- 
son, B.  L. 
Green,  J.   R.     (i)    An  Introduction  to   Vegetable  Physiology.      Phila- 
delphia.    P.  Blakiston's  Son   &  Co.     1900  and  later.     $3.00. 
(2)    A  H istory  of  Botany  i86o-igoo,  being  a  continuation  of  Sachs's 

'History  of  Botany,'  i §30-1860.     Oxford,  Clarendon  Press, 

1909. 
Grout,  A.  J. 

(i)    Mosses  with  a  Hand  Lens.     Second  edition  enlarged  to  include 

the  Hepatics.     Published  by  the  author,  360  Lenox  Road, 

Brooklyn,  N.Y.     1905.     $1.75. 
(2)    Mosses  with  Hand  Lens  and  Microscope.     Published  as  above. 

1903.     4  parts  with  one  to  come.     $5.00  unbound. 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  221 

Harwood,   W.   S.      New  Creations  in  Plant  Life.     New  York.     The 

Macmillan  Co.     1905  and  later.     $1.75. 
HiLGARD,  E.  W.     Soils,  their  Formation,   Properties,  Composition,  and 

Relations  to   Climate  and  Plant   Growth   in  the  Humid  and  Arid 

Regions.     New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     igo6.     $4.00. 
Hough,  R.  B.     Handbook  of  the  Trees  of  the  Northern  States  and  Canada, 

East  of  tlie  Rocky  Mountains.     Photo-descriptive.     Lowville,     N.Y. 

Published  by  the  Author.     1907.     $8.00. 
Hunter,  G.  W.     Elements  of  Biology.     A  Practical  Text-hook  correlating 

Botany,  Zoology,  and  Human  Physiology.     New  York.     American 

Book  Co.     1907.     $1.25. 
Huxley,   L.     The  Life  and  Letters  of  Thomas  Henry  Huxley.     New 

York.     D.  Appleton    &  Co.     1901.     2  vols.     $5.00. 
Huxley,  T.  H.     Science  and  Education.     Vol.  Ill  of  his  Collected  Works. 

New  York.     D.  Appleton   &  Co.     1894.     $1.25. 
Huxley,  T.  H.,  and  Martin,  H.  N.     A  Course  of  Elementary  Instruc- 
tion in  Practical  Biology.     London.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1875  and 

later.     $2.60. 
Jackson,  B.  D.     A  Glossary  of  Botanic  Terms  with  their  Derivation  and 

Accent.     Philadelphia.     J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.     1900.     $2.00. 
Jordan,    E.    O.     A    Text-book   of  General   Bacteriology.     Philadelphia. 

W.  B.  Saunders  Co.     1908.     $3.00. 
JoST,  L.     Translated  by  R.  J.  H.  Gibson.     Lectures  on  Plant  Physiology. 

O.xford.     Clarendon  Press.     1907.     $6.75. 
Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy.     Vols.  I-VI.     1898-1903.     Rochester, 

N.Y.     Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co. 
Karsten,  G.,  and  Schenck,  H.     Vegetationsbilder.     Jena.     G.  Fischer. 

1905.     2.50  marks  each  part. 
Kerner  vo-A  Marilaun,    a.     Translated    by    F.    W.    Oliver.     The 

Natural  History  of  Plants.    New  York.    Henry  Holt  &  Co.     4  vols. 

1894-1895.     $11.00. 
Knuth,   K.     Translated    by    J.   R.   A.    Davis.     Handbook    of   Floral 

Pollination.  O.xford.    Clarendon  Press.    3  vols.    1906-1909.    $24.25. 
Kraemer,    Henry.     A    Text-book   of  Botany  and   Pharmacognosy   In- 
tended for  the  Use  of  Students  of  Pharmacy,  as  a  Reference  Book  for 

Pharmacists,    and  as  a  Handbook  for   Food  and   Drug  Analysis. 

Philadelphia.     J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.     Third  edition.     1908.     $5.00. 


222  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Leavitt,  R.  G.     Outlines  of  Botany  for  the  High  School  Laboratory  and 

Classroom     (based    on    Gray's    Lessons  in  Botany).     New   York. 

American  Book  Co.     1901.     $1.00. 
Le  Maout,   E.,  and  Decaisne,  J.     Translated  by  Mrs.  Hooker.     A 

General  System   of  Botany.     London.     Longmans,    Green,    &   Co. 

1876.    (Out  of  print.) 
Lesquereux,  L.,  and  James,  T.  P.     Manual  of  the  Mosses  of  North 

America.     Boston.     S.  S.  Cassino  &  Co.     1884.     $4.00. 
Lloyd,   F.   E.,  and  Bigelow,   M.   A.     The  Teaching  of  Biology  in  the 

Secondary  School.  New  York.  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.   1904.  $1.50. 
LoCY,  W.  A.     Biology  and  its  Makers.     New  York.     Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

1908.     $2.75. 
Lubbock,  Sir  J.     Flowers,  Fruits,  and  Leaves.     London.     The  Mac- 

millan  Co.     1886.     $1.25. 
MacBride,  T.  H. 

(i)    The    North    American  Slime  Molds.     New  York.     The  Mac- 
millan  Co.     1899.     $2.25. 

(2)    Lessons  in  Elementary  Botany.     Boston.    Allyn  &  Bacon.     1896. 
80  cents. 
MacDougal,  D.  T. 

(i)     The  Nature  and  Work  of  Plants.     An  Introduction  to  the  Study 
of  Botany.    New  York.    The  Macmillan  Co.    1900.     80  cents. 

(2)  Practical   Text-book  of  Plant  Physiology.     New  York.     Long- 

mans, Green,    &  Co.     1901.     $3.00. 

(3)  Elementary  Plant  Physiology.     New  York.     Longmans,  Green, 

&  Co.     1902.     $1.20. 
MacIlvaine,    C,    and    Macadam,     R.    K.     One  Thousand  American 

Fungi.     Indianapolis.     Brown-Merrill  Co.     1902  and  later.     $5. 00. 
Massee,    G.     Text-book   of  Fungi,  including  Morphology,  Physiology, 

Pathology,    Classification,   etc.     New    York.     The    Macmillan    Co. 

1906.     $2.00. 
MuLLER,  H.     Translated  by  D.  W.  Thompson.     The  Fertilization  of 

Flowers.     London.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1883.     215. 
Murray,  G.     Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Seaweeds.     New  York.     The 

Macmillan  Co.     1895.     $1.75. 
Nature.     A    Weekly    Illustrated    Journal    of    Science.     London.      The 

Macmillan  Co.     £  i.  105.  per  year. 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS   AND   THEIR   USE  223 

Nature-Study  Review.     Published  by  F.  L.  Charles,  Urbana,  III.,  in  9 

numbers.     $1.00  per  year. 
Nelsox,  a.     New  Manual  of  Botany  of  the  Central  Rocky  Mountains 

{Vascular  Plants).     By  J.  M.  Coulter,  revised  by  Aven  Nelson. 

New  York.     American  Book  Co.,  1910. 
Newell,  Jane  H.     Outlines  of  Lessons  in  Botany.     Parts  I    and    II ; 

with  Readers,  Parts  I  and  II.     Boston.     Ginn   &  Co.     1892-1893. 

Outlines,  50  and  80  cents;   Readers,  60  cents  each. 
New  Phytologist,  Cambridge,  England.     Published  at  the  Botany  School 

in  ID  numbers  per  year.     10  shillings. 
Osterhout,    W.   J.    \'.     Experiments  with   Plants.     New   York.     The 

Macmillan  Co.     1905.     $1.25. 
Peirce,  G.  J.     A  Text-book  of  Plant  Physiology.     New  York.     Henry 

Holt  &  Co.     1903.     $2.00. 
Penhallow,  D.  p.     a  Manual  of  the  North  American  Gymnosperms. 

Boston.     Ginn  &  Co.     1907.     $4.50. 
Pepoon,  H.  S.,  Mitchell,  W.  R.,  and  Maxwell,  F.  B.    Studies  of  Plant 

Life.     Boston.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.     1900.     50  cents. 
Pfeffer,  W.     Translated  by  A.  J.  Ew.art.     The  Physiology  of  Plants. 

0.xford.     Clarendon    Press.     Vols.    I-III.     1900-1906.     $17.75. 
Pinchot,  G.     a  Primer  of  Forestry.   Washington.    Government  Printing 

office.     1899   and  later.     Part   I,   The   Forest;     Part  II,  Practical 

Forestry.     1905.     30  cents. 
Plant  World.     Published  monthly  at  Tucson,  Arizona.     Si. 00  per  year. 
Randolph,  Harriet.     Laboratory  Directions  in  General  Biology.     New 

York,  Henry  Holt  &  Co.  1898.     80  cents. 
Rhodora.     Monthly.     New    England  Botanical    Club.     Boston.     $1.00 

a  year. 
Robinson,  B.  L.,  and  Fern.ald,  M.  L.     A  Handbook  of  the  Flowering 

Plants  and  Ferns  of  the  Central  and  Northeastern  United  States  and 

Adjacent   Canada.     [Seventh  edition  of   Gray's   New  Manual  of 

Botany.]    New  York.     American  Book  Co.     1908.     $2.50. 
Sachs,  J. 

(i)    Translated  by   Garnsey  and   Balfour.     History  of  Botany. 
O.xford.     Clarendon  Press.     1890.     $3.25. 

(2)    Lectures  on  the  Physiology  of  Plants.  Translated  by  H.  M.  Ward 
Oxford.     Clarendon  Press.     1887.     (Now  out  of  print.) 


224  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

Sargent,  C.  S. 

(i)    The  Silva  of  North  America.     14  vols.      Boston.      Houghton, 
MifBin  &  Co.     1891-1902.     $350.00. 

(2)    Manual  of  the  Trees  of  North  America  (exclusive  of  Mexico). 
Boston.     Houghton,  MifHin   &  Co.     1905.     $6.00. 
Sargent,    F.    L.     Corn   Plants.     Boston.     Houghton,    Mifflin     &    Co. 

1899.     75  cents. 
ScHiMPER,     A.  F.  W.     Translated  by  W.  R.  Fisher.     Plant  Geography 

on    a    Physiological    Basis.     Oxford.         Clarendon    Press.      1903, 

$12.75. 
Schneider,  A. 

(i)    Guide  to  the  Study  of  Lichens.     Boston.      Knight  and  Millet. 
1898.     $2.50. 

(2)    A    Text-hook   of  General     Lichenology,    with   descriptions   and 
figures  of   the  genera  occurring   in  the  Northeastern    Ufiited 
States.     Binghamton,  N.Y.     W.  N.  Clute.     1897. 
School  Science  and  Mathematics.     Published  at  Chicago,  in  9  numbers  per 

year.     $2.00. 
Science.     Weekly.     New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.         $5.00  a  year. 
Scott,  D.  H.    Studies  in  Fossil  Botany.    London.    A.  and  C.  Black.  1900 

and  later.     105.  6d. 
Sedgwick,  W.  T.,  and  Wilson,  E.  B.    General  Biology.    New  York. 

Henry  Holt  &  Co.  1886.     $2.00. 
Setchell,  W.  A.     Laboratory  Practice  for  Beginners  in  Botany.    ■  New 

York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1897.     90  cents. 
Small,   J.   K.     Flora  of  the  Southeasterti   United  States.      New  York. 

Published  by  the  Author  at  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden.     1903. 

$3.60. 
Smith,  J.     Dictionary  of  Popular  Names  of  Plants  which  furnish  the 

Natural  and  Acquired  Wants  of  Man,  etc.      London.      The  Mac- 
millan Co.     1882. 
Solereder,  H.     Translated  by  L.  A.  Boodle  and   F.  E.  Fritsch  and 

revised  by  D.  H.  Scott.     Systematic  Anatomy  of  the  Dicotyledons. 

Oxford.     Clarendon  Press.     1908.     2  vols.     $15.50. 
Solms-Laxjbach,  H.  Graf   zu.     Translated   by   H.    E.    F.    Garnsey, 

revised   by   I.    B.    Balfour.     Fossil  Botany.     Oxford.     Clarendon 

Press.     1891.     $5.00. 


BOTANICAL   BOOKS    AND   THEIR   USE  225 

SoRAUER,    P.     Translated  by  F.  E.  Weiss.     A  Popular  Treatise  on  the 

Physiology  of  Plants.     London.     Longmans,  Green,    &  Co.       1895. 

$3.00. 
Spalding,  V.  M.     Guide  to  the  Study  of  Common  Plants.     An  Introduction 

to   Botany.      Boston.      D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.      1893  and   later.      90 

cents. 
Spotton,  H.  B.     Tlie  Elements  of  Structural  Botany.   Toronto.    Gage  & 

Co.     1889  and  later  editions. 
Stevens,  W.  C. 

(i)    Introduction  to  Botany.     Boston.     D.   C.  Heath  &  Co.     1902. 
$1.25;   with  Flora,  $1.50. 

(2)    Plant  Anatomy,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  development  and  func- 
tions of  the  tissues,  and  handbook  of  micro-technic.      Philadel- 
phia.    P.  Blakiston's  Son    &  Co.     1907.     $2.00. 
Steasburger,  E.     Translated  by  W.  Hillhouse.     Handbook  of  Practi- 
cal Botany  for  the  Botanical  Laboratory  and  Private  Student.     New 

York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1886  and  later.     $2.50. 
Strasburger,  E.,  Noll,  F.,  Schenck,  H.,  and  Karsten,  G.     Trans- 
lated by  W.  H.  Lang.     A  Text-book  of  Botany.     New  York.     The 

Macmillan  Co.     1908.     $5.00. 
Torreya.     New    York.      Published    monthly  by  the    Torrey  Botanical 

Club.     $1.00. 
TuBEUF,  K.  Freiherr  von.     Translated  by  W.  G.  Smith.     Diseases  of 

Plants  induced  by  Cryptogamic  Parasites.     New  York.      Longmans, 

Green,   &  Co.     1897.     $5.50. 
Underwood,  L.  M. 

(i)    Our  Native  Ferns  and  their  Allies.     New  York.     Henry  Holt  & 
Co.     1881  and  later.     $r.oo. 

(2)    Molds,  Mildews,  and  Mushrooms.     New  York.      Henry  Holt  & 
Co.     1899.     $1.50. 
Verworn,  M.     Translated  by  F.  S.   Lee.     General  Physiology.     New 

York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1899.     $4.00. 
Vines,  S.  H. 

(i)    Lectures  on  the  Physiology  of  Plants.     Cambridge.     University 
Press.     1886.     $5.00. 

(2)    Elementary  Text-book  of  Botany.     New  York.     The  Macmillan 
Co.     1898.     $2.25. 

Q 


226  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Wallace,  A.  R. 

(i)    Malay  Archipelago.     New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1898. 

$2.00. 
(2)    Tropical  Nature  and  other  Essays.     London.     The  Macmillan 
Co.     1878. 
Ward,  H.  M.     Disease  in  Plants.     New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

1901.     75  cents. 
Warming,  E. 

(i)    Translated  by  Potter.     A   Hand-book  of  Systematic   Botany, 

New  York.     The  Macmillan  Co.     1895.     $3.75. 
(2)   Assisted  by  M.  Vahl.     Translated  by  P.   Groom  and  I.   B. 
Balfour.     CEcology  of  Plants,  and  Introduction  to  the  Study 
of   Plant    Communities.     Oxford.    Clarendon    Press.     1909. 
$3.25. 
Warren,    G.    F.     Elements   af  Agriculture.     New   York.     The   Mac- 
millan Co.     1909.     $1.10. 
Waters,  C.  E.     Ferns.     A  Manual  of  the  Northeastern  States.     New 

York.     Henry  Holt  &  Co.     1903.     $3.00. 
Weed,    C.    M.     Seed    Travelers.      Boston.     Ginn     &    Co.     1898.     40 

cents. 
Willis,  J.  C.     A  Manual  and  Dictionary  of  the  Flowering  Plants  and 
Ferns.      Third     edition.      Cambridge    University    Press.      1908. 
10s.  6d. 


IX.     ON   SOME    COMMON    ERRORS    PREJUDI- 
CIAL  TO    GOOD    BOTANICAL   TEACHING 

One  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of 
knowledge  is  the  difficulty  of  securing  the  introduction  of 
the  results  of  new  researches  into  general  circulation, 
especially  when  these  are  in  contravention  of  commonly- 
accepted  views.  Errors  once  in  possession  of  the  field, 
especially  if  backed  by  the  authority  of  some  great  name, 
persist  long  after  they  are  disproven,  particularly  when 
easier  to  understand,  or  pleasanter  to  believe,  than  the 
newer  truths.  I  shall  here  point  out  some  of  the  more 
prevalent  errors  in  Botany,  not  including  cases  still  in 
doubt,  but  only  those  on  which  specialists  agree. 

Very  widely  spread  is  one  popular  error  about  Botany, 
namely,  that  it  is  synonymous  with  the  study  of  flowers, 
and  hence  of  no  great  value  except  as  an  accomplishment 
of  fashionable  boarding-schools  for  girls,  or  an  appropriate 
hobby  for  elderly  persons  of  leisure.  This  belief  is  a 
natural  one,  for  until  lately  it  has  consisted  in  this  country 
largely  in  the  study  of  flowers,  and  still  does  to  a  consider- 
able extent.  We  cannot  expect  the  error  to  be  corrected 
until  botanical  courses  represent,  in  some  measure,  the 
real  condition  of  the  science. 

i2^ 


228  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

Another  popular  error,  which,  however,  is  not  limited 
to  Botany,  but  extends  to  all  scientific  study,  is  that  im- 
plied by  the  familiar  question,  "Of  what  use  is  it  all?" 
The  inquiry  is  perfectly  natural,  but  to  it  there  are  three 
sufficient  answers.  First,  scientific  study  gives  happi- 
ness to  some  people,  who  are  as  much  entitled  to  their 
own  kind  of  uplifting  enjoyment  as  are  those  who  take 
pleasure  in  literature,  art,  music,  or  the  drama ;  and 
their  preference  should  receive  the  same  sympathy  and 
respect  as  are  accorded  the  latter.  Second,  man  rises 
in  the  cosmical  scale  chiefly  through  effort,  and,  next 
after  conquest  of  himself,  scientific  investigation  of  the 
world  about  him  offers  the  most  natural,  worthy,  and 
effective  field  for  the  uplifting  employment  of  his  powers. 
Third,  the  history  of  science  has  shown  that  those  sci- 
entific discoveries  which  have  resulted  in  great  practical 
benefit  to  mankind  have  been  made  in  the  most  unexpected 
places,  even  in  the  most  unpractical  subjects ;  and  it  is 
quite  impossible  to  predict  where,  on  the  broad  surface  of 
expanding  knowledge,  the  next  practical  development  may 
spring  forth.  Hence,  the  only  logical  way  is  to  encourage 
the  advancement  of  all  phases  of  knowledge, —  trusting  with 
a  faith  born  of  experience,  that  sooner  or  later  some  result 
will  appear  of  such  value  as  to  pay  many-fold  for  it  all. 
Whensoever,  in  any  community,  there  arises  a  man  witj? 
ability  and  willingness  to  devote  himself  to  recondite 
and  unpractical  scientific  researches,  the  first  thing  that 


SOME   COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS  229 

community  should  do  is  to  return  thanks  in  its  heart  for 
a  piece  of  good  fortune  vouchsafed  it,  and  the  second  is 
to  give  him  every  possible  aid,  encouragement,  and  sym- 
pathy in  whatsoever  direction  he  may  elect  to  follow. 

Another  error,  prevalent  among  some  college  teachers,  is 
the  belief  that  Botany  cannot  be  taught  as  a  science  in  the 
high  schools,  because  high  school  students  are  not  mature 
enough  to  think  in  a  scientific  manner.  It  is  true  that 
many  of  them  do  not  think,  but  this  is  because  their  power 
to  do  so  is  aborted  by  disuse,  or  crushed  to  earth  by  the 
weight  of  incessant  memory  work.  But  experience  shows 
that,  given  a  fair  chance,  high  school  students  are  fully  able 
to  profit  by  a  reasonably  scientific  treatment  of  the  subject. 

Still  another  error,  all  too  prevalent  among  college 
teachers,  is  the  belief  that  valuable  educational  exercises 
can  be  developed  from  one's  head  alone  without  any 
need  for  an  actual  test  in  class  room  or  laboratory.  In 
consequence  our  educational  literature  exhibits  some 
learned  but  unpractical  books  for  high  schools  written 
by  university  professors,  occasional  sweeping  condemna- 
tions of  our  present  laboratory  courses  conjoined  with 
recommendations  for  their  replacement  by  wholly  un- 
tested substitutes,  and  many  uneconomical  or  impossible 
exercises  in  even  our  best  books.  There  is  nothing 
which  does  more  harm  to  our  science  teaching  than  this 
positive  recommendation  of  untried  matters  by  those  in 
positions  of  authority,  for  the  failure  of  most  of  these 


23° 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


methods  to  work  out  in  practice  tends  to  disgust  both 
teachers  and  students  with  scientific  study. 

These,  however,  are  but  minor  errors,  though  it  is  well 
for  the  teacher  to  be  on  the  watch  for  them,  and  to  attack 
them  whenever  they  appear.  Much  more  serious  are 
the  errors  of  botanical  fact  and  interpretation  current 
among  teachers  themselves,  and  of  these  the  more  impor- 
tant concern  some  leading  matters  in  morphology  and 
physiology. 

In  morphology  some  errors  of  fact  still  persist,  though 
they  are  vanishing.  Thus  the  ovule  is  still  sometimes  said 
to  represent  a  part  of  the  altered  carpellary  margin,  a 
leaf-tooth,  as  it  were,  while  pollen  is  said  to  represent  the 
soft  parenchyma  inside  a  leaf.  Nothing,  however,  could 
be  more  completely  disproven,  for  we  know  that  the 
essential  parts  of  both  ovule  and  pollen  are  in  fact  spores, 
—  structures  not  only  morphologically  wholly  independ- 
ent of  leaves,  but  of  an  ancestry  more  ancient  than  that 
of  the  leaves  themselves.  Furthermore,  it  is  known  that 
carpels  and  stamens  are  not  modified  green  leaves,  as  still 
sometimes  taught,  but  altered  sporophyls,  —  leaves,  it  is 
true,  but  an  independent  sort  as  old  as  the  green  leaves 
and  perhaps  older.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  impossible  to 
homologize  the  parts  of  carpels  and  stamens  with  any  parts 
possessed  by  a  green  leaf.  But  aside  from  these  errors 
of  fact,  there  still  prevail  many  errors  of  interpretation, 
Imposed  by  the  rigidly  formalistic  morphology  which  is 


SOME   COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS  23 1 

still  in  vogue  in  some  places,  though  as  a  whole  we  are 
outgrowing  it.  Thus,  it  has  been  taught  that  the  higher 
plant  has  only  these  elemental  members,  —  root,  stem, 
and  leaf  (with  perhaps  also  "plant  hair"),  and  that  every 
part  of  it  is  always  composed  of  some  one,  or  some  combi- 
nation of  these.  On  this  basis  every  part  of  the  flower  and 
fruit  was  homologized  with  stem  and  green  leaf,  even 
to  the  uttermost  parts,  and  all  inferior  ovaries  were 
supposed  to  be  carpels  enwrapped  by  calyx.  The  central 
idea  of  this  morphology  was  a  belief  in  the  immutable 
nature  of  the  plant  members,  or  elements,  which,  like  the 
chemical  elements,  might  be  variously  combined  and 
united,  but  must  retain  their  identity  through  all  the 
changes  of  form  and  function.  But  further  study  has 
shown  that  this  view  is  wrong,  and  that  there  are  no  ideal 
natures  imposed  upon  structures,  other  than  such  as  they 
possess  through  long  repetition  of  one  habit.  On  the 
contrary,  difference  of  degree  in  development  passes  over 
gradually  into  difference  of  kind,  thus  leading  to  the  for- 
mation of  new  elements  or  members,  which  become 
centers  of  independent  variation,  modification,  and  adap- 
tation upon  their  own  account.  Thus,  an  ovary,  when 
varying  adaptively  to  some  new  influence,  does  not  need 
to  go  back  to  consult  the  rules  governing  its  behavior 
when  it  was  a  set  of  leaves  (sporophyls),  but  it  responds 
as  a  new  unit,  an  independent  member  or  morphological 
element, —  in  a  word,  not  as  sporophyls  but  as  ovary.     It  is 


232  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

not  possible,  therefore,  to  homologize  all  the  peculiarities 
of  inferior  and  superior  ovaries,  and  their  diverse  sorts 
of  placentas,  and  anything  that  leaves  exhibit.  There 
exists  in  morphology  the  same  distinction  between  historical 
origin  and  present  nature  which  occurs  among  peoples. 
Historically,  an  American  is  an  Englishman,  but  he  does 
not  on  that  account  now  act  or  think  as  an  Englishman; 
he  has  a  new  character,  he  is  an  American.  And  just  as 
the  American  has  attained  to  independent  political  dig- 
nity, so  a  plant  structure,  through  time  and  change  of 
habit,  can  attain  to  independent  morphological  dignity. 
Of  course  there  are  all  degrees  of  this  morphological 
independence,  and  while  some  structures  have  broken 
away  entirely  from  their  original  nature,  others  are  more 
or  less  bound  by  it;  but  the  recognition  of  the  principle, 
really  the  fundamental  principle  of  modern  morphology, 
is  very  important.  Formalism  in  morphology  based  upon 
abstract  conceptions,  is  being  replaced  by  realism  based 
upon  observation  of  things  as  they  are. 

Another  old  morphological  error,  which  occasionally 
reappears,  concerns  the  supposed  composition  of  the 
higher  plant  from  certain  elemental  parts  called  phytomera, 
each  composed  of  a  joint  of  stem  and  one  or  more  leaves. 
The  support  for  this  idea  is  found  partly  in  the  jointed 
appearance  of  many  plants  like  grasses,  and  partly  in  the 
fact  that  the  so-called  phytomer  is  usually  the  smallest 
part  of  a  plant  that  will  grow.     The  latter,  however,  is 


SOME   COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS  233 

a  purely  physiological  phenomenon  of  no  morphological 
significance;  a  piece  of  stem  can  usually  put  out  roots, 
and  some  leaf  surface  is  necessary  to  make  food  to  enable 
the  plant  to  continue  its  growth.  The  jointed  appearance 
is  purely  incidental;  the  nodes  are  the  places  where  the 
fibrovascular  bundles  branch  to  run  out  into  the  leaves 
and  to  unite  with  one  another,  and  hence  the  node  and  its 
accompanying  internode  have  simply  an  anatomical  and 
not  a  morphological  meaning.  Embryology  shows  that 
the  plant  is  not  made  up  of  a  series  of  phytomera  growing 
one  out  of  another,  but  of  continuously-growing  vegetative 
points  which  throw  off  leaves  and  branches  at  regular 
intervals.  Again,  it  is  usually  assumed  that  root,  stem, 
and  leaf  of  the  higher  plant  are  members  of  equivalent 
morphological  worth.  In  fact,  this  is  not  the  case,  for 
root  is  in  every  way  much  more  distinct  from  stem  and 
leaf  than  these  are  from  one  another.  The  best  division 
is  into  root  and  shoot,  with  the  latter  differentiating  into 
leaf  and  stem.  But  even  this  does  not  go  back  far  enough, 
for  we  must  recognize  the  spores  in  any  morphological 
classification,  and  certainly  the  spores  are  more  distinct 
from  root  and  shoot  than  these  are  from  one  another, 
as  the  lower  plants  (e.g.  the  Algae)  well  show.  The  rela- 
tionships of  these  members  are  shown  by  the  table  on  the 
following  page. 

The  statement  that  an  inferior  ovary  is  one  in  which 
the  calyx  tube  is  adnate  to  the  carpels  is  likely  to  persist 


234 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 
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SOME   COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS  235 

in  works  on  classification,  since  it  is  inseparably  bound  up 
with  the  technical  terminology  of  that  subject.  But  the 
teacher  should  know  that  it  is  in  fact  incorrect.  Embry- 
ology shows  that,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  at  least, 
the  inferior  ovary  is  simply  a  receptacle  which  has  grown 
up  into  a  cup,  carrying  all  the  other  parts  upon  its  top; 
the  carpels  come  finally  to  form  simply  a  roof  over  the 
cavity  of  the  ovary  (as  shown  in  Fig.  34),  a  fact  which  at 
once  disposes  of  many  of  the  inconsistencies  inseparable 
from  the  "calyx-adnate"  theory.  Again,  where  a  tube 
is  formed  in  calyx,  or  corolla  Cor  perianth),  it  is  usual  to 
consider  that  this  tube  consists  of  united  sepals,  petals, 
etc.,  but  it  is  probable  that  only  the  free  parts,  or  teeth,  of 
the  corolla  or  calyx  represent  the  original  distinct  petals 
or  sepals,  while  the  tube  is  a  band  of  leaf  tissue  that  grows 
up  as  a  ring  leaf,  bearing  the  separate  leaves  on  its  top; 
it  is  thus  a  new  development  of  the  corolla  or  calyx,  pre- 
cisely as  the  corona  is,  and  not  the  united  bases  of  the  old 
perianth  parts.^ 

x\n  error  still  very  widespread  is  the  belief  that  mon- 
strosities are  reversions  to  an  earlier  condition,  and  hence 
good  guides  to  the  past  history  of  organs  or  species.  It 
is  true  they  may  be,  and  of  course  often  are,  reversions; 
but  so  frequently  they  are  not  that  great  caution  must  be 

'  If  the  reader  cares  to  follow  this  subject  farther,  he  may  be  interested 
in  a  more  detailed  discussion  of  the  principles  of  morphology  which  I 
have  published  in  the  Botanical  Gazette,  31,  iqoi,  426.  There  is  a  com- 
panion paper,  relating  to  ecology,  in  Science,  19,  1904,  493. 


236  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

exercised  in  using  them  as  guides  to  phylogeny.  If  the 
turning  of  a  rose  petal  green  is  taken  to  prove  that  the 
petal  was  once  a  foliage  leaf,  then  the  turning  red  or  yellow 
of  the  leaf  under  the  flower  of  a  tulip  is  equally  good 
evidence  that  this  leaf  was  once  a  petal,  which  is,  of  course, 
not  to  be  believed.  In  fact  the  turning  green  of  petals 
means  nothing  more  than  a  disturbance  of  nutrition  con- 
ditions. This  principle  applies  to  the  cases  where  carpels 
become  leaves  and  the  ovules  leaf-like  bodies,  which  need 
not  mean  that  these  were  once  of  a  green  leaf  nature,  but 
only  that  the  plant  has  for  some  reason  unknown  built 
green  leaf  tissue  instead  of  carpellary  tissue  at  that 
place. 

Much  more  common  than  morphological  errors  are 
those  of  physiology,  of  which  some  are  popular  and  some 
technical.  Of  the  popular  sort  the  most  widespread  is 
the  belief  that  animals  and  plants  are  the  exact  opposites 
of  each  other  with  reference  to  the  taking  in  and  giving  off 
of  the  two  very  important  gases,  carbon  dioxide  and  oxygen. 
In  a  general  way  this  is  true,  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which 
it  is  usually  meant.  In  fact,  in  all  of  their  processes  of 
growth,  movements,  etc.,  animals  and  plants  behave 
precisely  alike  with  reference  to  these  two  gases,  in  both 
cases  taking  in  oxygen  and  giving  out  carbon  dioxide. 
That  is,  both  animals  and  plants  respire,  and  exactly  alike. 
But  it  happens  that  green  plants  have  an  additional 
power,  utterly  lacking  in  animals,  to  form  their  food  from 


SOME   COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS 


237 


certain  gases,  minerals,  and  water;  and  in  this  process 
(photosynthesis,  or  carbon  assimilation),  carbon  dioxide 
is  absorbed  and  oxygen  is  given  off.  In  green  plants  in 
bright  light,  this  process  is  so  very  much  more  active  than 
the  process  of  respiration  (about  a  dozen  times  in  leaves 
on  a  bright  day)  that  the  plant  as  a  whole  does  give  off 
much  more  oxygen  than  carbon  dioxide;  but  in  darkness 
the  food  making  stops,  while  the  plant  continues  to  give 
off  carbon  dioxide  precisely  as  before.  It  is,  therefore, 
only  by  virtue  of  their  possession  of  this  single  extra  power 
of  photosynthesis  that  plants  reverse  the  process  of 
animals;  in  nearly  all  others  of  their  important  vital 
actions  the  two  kinds  of  organisms  behave  just  alike. 
Much  misunderstood  is  the  nature  of  plant  food,  which 
is  commonly  supposed  to  consist  of  carbon  dioxide, 
minerals,  and  water.  If  by  food  one  means  anything 
taken  into  and  used  by  the  organism,  this  popular  idea 
is  correct;  but  if  by  that  term  one  means  the  substance 
out  of  which  the  organism  builds  up  new  tissues,  repairs 
waste,  and  obtains  energy  for  its  vital  work,  then  it  is 
incorrect.  The  fact  is,  as  just  mentioned,  that  the  plint 
has  the  power  of  absorbing  carbon  dioxide,  water,  and 
minerals,  and  of  making  from  the  two  former  a  new 
substance,  a  sugar,  which  is  then  used  as  food  by  plants  in 
essentially  the  same  manner  as  animals  use  the  materials 
they  eat.  Or  we  may  express  the  matter  thus:  Plants 
form  their  food  from  raw  materials,  which   properly  are 


238  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

not  food  at  all,  but  animals  have  no  such  power  and,  there- 
fore, must  obtain  theirs  ready-made  from  plants. 

A  good  many  people  who  have  watched  plants  a  great 
deal  have  the  idea  that  they  possess  a  certain  amount  of 
intelligence,  and  there  is  at  least  one  book  devoted  to  an 
attempt  to  demonstrate  the  truth  of  this.  Even  the 
scientifically-trained  student,  in  his  first  studies  upon  the 
irritability,  or  individual  adaptive  responses,  of  plants, 
usually  passes  through  a  stage  in  which  he  is  almost 
persuaded  that  plants  possess  a  rudimentary  intelligence. 
The  more  careful  study  of  the  phenomena,  however,  has 
shown  that  plants  do  not  possess  any  traces  of  intelligence, 
and  that  the  power  by  which  they  produce  some  apparently 
similar  results,  i.e.  their  irritability,  is  more  nearly  com- 
parable with  reflex  action,  and  even  with  instinct,  in  ani- 
mals, than  with  consciousness  and  intelligence.  It  seems  a 
fact  that  out  of  one  and  the  same  property  in  the  original 
protoplasm,  animals  have  differentiated  reflex  action, 
instinct,  and  intelligence,  while  plants  have  developed 
only  irritability. 

In  addition  to  these  popular  errors  there  are  some 
which  are  current  among  teachers,  and  even  among  the 
writers  of  our  most  authoritative  text-books.  A  number 
of  these  are  connected  with  photosynthesis.  Thus,  some 
of  these  books  recommend,  with  a  suitable  illustration, 
an  experiment  in  which  bubbles  of  oxygen  are  said  to 
rise  copiously  from  the  leaf  of  a  land  plant,  lettuce  or  the 


SOME    COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS  239 

like,  when  placed  under  water  in  a  tumbler  and  stood  in 
the  sun;  but  in  fact,  this  is  wholly  an  error.  The  bubbles 
are  not  oxygen  at  all,  but  air  dissolved  in  the  water  and 
released  by  the  rising  warmth.  They  collect  on  the  sides 
of  the  dish  as  well  as  on  the  leaf,  on  dead  leaves  as  well 
as  on  living  ones,  and  in  darkness  as  well  as  in  light  when 
the  temperature  is  raised  as  high,  while  analysis  shows 
that  the  gas  contains  no  more  oxygen  than  belongs  to  air 
in  solution.  .\nd  besides,  the  bubbles  do  not  rise  unless 
the  dish  is  shaken.  In  fact,  by  this  method  oxygen  can  be 
collected  only  from  plants  which  live  under  water,  e.g. 
Cabomba,  Elodea,  etc.  Even  in  connection  with  this 
experiment  most  of  our  books  introduce  an  error;  namely, 
they  picture  the  funnel  under  which  the  water  plants  are 
placed  as  either  resting  on  the  bottom  of  the  containing 
vessel,  or  else  completely  filling  it  when  of  cylindrical  form. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  such  case,  the  supply  of  carbon 
dioxide  in  the  funnel  is  soon  exhausted,  and  no  more 
oxygen  can  be  evolved.  The  only  way  to  insure  success 
is  to  use  a  large  dish  with  plenty  of  surface  through  which 
additional  carbon  dioxide  can  be  absorbed  from  the  air, 
and  to  keep  the  funnel  well  up  from  the  bottom.  Equally 
fallacious  is  another  experiment  still  found  in  most  of 
our  elementary  books,  viz.  that  in  which,  to  demonstrate 
the  necessity  for  light  in  starch  formation,  corks  or  pieces 
of  tin  foil  are  pinned  to  the  opposite  sides  of  a  leaf, —  the 
effect  exhibited  when  the  iodine  test  is  applied  after  ex- 


>40 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


posure  of  the  leaf  being  supposed  to  be  due  to  the  absence 
of  light.  In  fact,  it  is  due  as  much  to  the  absence  of  carbon 
dioxide  excluded  by  the  lower  cork,  even  when  this  is 
loosely  applied,  a  fact  readily  shown  by  control  experi- 
ments. The  ideal  way  to  perform  this  experiment  is 
this:  to  apply  the  opaque  object  only  to  the  upper 
surface,  where  there  are  usually  few  or  no  stomata  (pref- 
erably selecting  a  leaf  with  none  above),  and  to  cover 
the  corresponding  lower  surface  with  a  perfectly- ventilated 
dark  box,  which  will  permit  free  access  of  the  carbon 
dioxide  to  the  stomata.  i\n  error  of  somewhat  similar 
sort  is  involved  in  the  method  often  recommended  for 
proving  that  plants  can  make  use  of  the  carbon  dioxide 
of  the  atmosphere  for  making  starch.  Two  similar 
plants  are  placed  under  separate  bell- jars  to  which  access 
of  the  atmosphere  is  allowed,  in  one  case  through  a  car- 
bon-dioxide-absorbing substance  and  in  the  other  through 
a  mechanically-similar  but  chemically-neutral  material. 
But  in  fact,  when  used  in  this  way,  the  materials  prac- 
tically stop  all  communication  with  the  atmosphere,  and 
the  results  are  imperfect  or  wholly  negative.  The  experi- 
ment can  be  perfectly  performed  by  using  large  sealed 
jars  or  bottles  with  single  small  leaves,  as  I  shall  describe 
in  the  suitable  place  in  Part  II  of  this  book. 

Among  other  physiological  errors  I  shall  here  mention 
but  a  few  of  the  worst,  leaving  the  minor  ones  to  be  noted 
under  the  appropriate  sections  in  Part  II.     Thus,  nearly 


SOME   COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS  24I 

all  books  are  hopelessly  confused  as  to  the  difference  be- 
tween root  exudation  (or  bleeding)  and  root  pressure,  two 
very  different  phenomena;  and  they  recommend  for  the 
determination  of  pressure  the  use  of  open  mercury  gauges 
of  several  millimeters'  diameter,  which  not  only  require 
a  large  amount  of  exudation  to  push  the  mercury  up  to 
any  appreciable  height,  but  also  are  of  such  proportions 
that  only  a  fraction  of  an  atmosphere  can  be  registered 
before  the  water  pushes  past  the  mercury.  In  fact,  there 
is  no  relation  whatever  betAveen  the  quantity  of  water 
gi^•en  oft",  and  the  pressure  under  which  it  is  given  off,  and 
often  the  quantity  is  xery  small,  though  its  pressure  is 
high.  In  such  a  case,  when  a  large  gauge  is  used,  the 
quantity  is  enough  to  push  the  mercury  only  a  short  dis- 
tance, which  would  be  taken  to  mean  a  very  low  pressure. 
The  remedy  is  to  be  found  in  the  use  of  gauges  so  small 
in  bore  and  length  that  the  pressure  is  indicated  by  an 
inappreciable  quantity  of  water.  For  this  purpose  small 
closed  gauges,  in  which  the  pressure  is  calculated  by 
Boyle's  law,  are  best.  Again  the  extinguishment  of  a 
candle  inserted  into  a  closed  space  is  sometimes  assumed 
to  prove  the  presence  of  carbon  dioxide,  whereas  it  may 
mean  this,  or  it  may  mean  the  presence  of  any  other 
neutral  gas,  or  it  may  mean  simply  a  deficiency  of  oxygen. 
Again,  it  is  sometimes  said  that  by  means  of  a  flame  the 
oxygen  may  be  burned  from  a  confined  space  and  replaced 
wholly  by  carbon  dioxide,  and  I  know  a  book  devoted  to 


242  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

the  chemistry  of  plants  which  gives  supposedly  experimental 
evidence  in  support  of  this  error.  In  faqt,  an  ordinary 
flame  will  not  bum  as  a  rule  over  about  three  per  cent  of 
the  oxygen  from  a  confined  space  before  it  goes  out. 

It  would  seem  upon  a  priori  grounds  impossible  for 
such  errors  to  obtain  general  currency  in  good  books,  and 
the  fact  that  they  do  illustrates  the  imperfections  of  the 
human  mind  as  an  instrument  for  the  advancement  of 
knowledge.  As  a  rule,  the  errors  originate  in  somebody's 
carelessness,  perhaps  in  his  recommendation  of  an  experi- 
ment devised  in  the  study  arm  chair,  and  never  properly 
tested  in  the  laboratory.  Then  they  are  perpetuated 
through  our  slavish  reverence  for  authority,  which  has  so 
great  a  grasp  upon  us,  that  when  we  do  seriously  test  an 
experiment,  we  usually  feel  bound  to  make  the  result  come 
as  stated;  and  we  even  blame  ourselves,  and  not  the 
original  author  (and  much  less  the  phenomena  of  nature) , 
when  these  results  fail  to  come  as  advertised.  Besides, 
we  are  usually  perfectly  satisfied  when  a  result  comes 
according  to  expectation,  never  stopping  to  ask  whether 
that  result  may  not  be  only  accidentally  instead  of  logically 
correct,  something  which  would  never  be  possible,  if  we 
but  employed  in  demonstration  the  same  critical-control 
spirit  we  always  use  in  an  investigation. 

'  The  reader  interested  in  this  subject  of  current  physiological  errors 
will  find  a  more  detailed  treatment  of  it  in  an  article  of  mine  in  School 
Science  and  Mathematics,  6,  1906,  297. 


SOME   COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS  243 

Our  working  botanical  vocabulary  includes  some  terms 
which  the  progress  of  knowledge  has  rendered  unfortunate, 
if  not  erroneous.  Thus  "cross  fertilization,"  as  applied 
to  the  transfer  of  pollen  by  insects,  should  be  avoided,  for 
fertilization  is  the  actual  union  of  the  male  and  female 
elements  to  which  the  transfer  of  pollen  is  merely  a  me- 
chanical preliminary.  "Cross  pollination"  is  a  good  term. 
Again  I  am  myself  responsible  for  the  unfortunate  phrase 
"locomotion  of  seeds"  sometimes  applied  to  their  scat- 
tering by  the  agency  of  animals,  etc.  The  term  was  first 
used  to  express  the  idea  that  the  process  attains  the  same 
physiological  or  ecological  result  as  does  locomotion  in 
animals;  but  it  involves  a  misleading  implication  as  to 
the  method,  and  I  think  the  old  term  "dissemination" 
is  much  better,  even  when  extended  to  the  entire  process, 
including  cases  of  real  locomotion.  Another  unfortunate 
phrase  is  "cambium  ring,"  which  ought  obviously  to 
be  replaced  by  "cambium  cylinder,"  while  stomata  ought 
never  to  be  called  "breathing  pores,"  since  plants,  while 
they  respire,  do  not  breathe.  I  have  already  pointed  out 
the  unfortunate  use  of  the  term  "plant  food,"  though 
usage  is  probably  too  firmly  fixed  for  change,  but  we  can 
at  least  make  the  distinction  between  "raw  food"  and 
"elaborated  food,"  or  between  "food  elements"  and 
"food."  However,  it  is  entirely  possible  to  carry  these 
refinements  of  terminology  too  far,  an  example  of  which, 
in  my  opinion,  is  the  custom  of  some  morphologists  to 


244  "THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

restrict  the  terms  "sex-organs"  to  parts  of  the  gameto- 
phyte  generation  (contents  of  the  embryo  sac  and  of  the 
pollen  grain),  and  to  deny  it  to  the  sporophyte  generation, 
which  includes  the  stamens  and  carpels.  Such  a  restric- 
tion is  not  only  an  arbitrary  attempt  to  wrest  a  popular 
terminology  from  its  old  and  perfectly  defined  meaning, 
and  give  it  a  limited  technical  meaning,  but  it  is,  in  my 
opinion,  incorrect  in  fact,  since  it  is  based  on  the  assump- 
tion that  morphological  and  physiological  lines  are  coin- 
cident, whereas  they  are  wholly  independent  of  one  an- 
other. So  I  think  it  is  perfectly  correct  to  call  stamens 
the  male  organs,  and  pistils  the  female  organs  of  the  plant.* 
We  may  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  consider 
briefly  a  matter  which,  while  not  an  error,  involves  some 
of  the  same  consequences.  No  teacher  works  long  among 
plants  without  learning  that  instead  of  the  single  scientific 
name  which  each  plant  is  supposed  to  possess,  many 
plants  apparently  have  several;  and  a  little  later  he  dis- 
covers that  in  this  country  there  exist  two  warring  schools 
of  plant  nomenclature,  whose  writings  have  brought  the 
subject  into  so  much  confusion  that  the  common  names 
of  plants  have  actually  been,  of  late,  more  stable  and 
distinctive  than  the  scientific.  The  origin  of  this  strange 
condition  is  too  '  complex  for  discussion  in  this  place 
except  in  barest  outline.     All  working  botanists,  from  the 

'  My  argument  in  full  on  this  subject  is  in  Science,  17,  1903,  652.    No 
reply  thereto  has  been  published  as  far  as  I  have  seen. 


SOME   COMMON   BOTANICAL   ERRORS  245 

time  of  Linnaeus  to  our  own,  have  agreed  that  a  plant  shall 
have  but  one  scientific  name,  which  shall  be  that  first  given. 
For  various  reasons,  however,  a  name  later  given  had 
in  many  cases  superseded  the  earlier,  and  there  were  all 
kinds  of  troublesome  intermediate  complications,  on  the 
treatment  of  which  usage  was  divided.  Finally,  about 
twenty  years  ago,  a  group  of  the  younger  American  bota- 
nists attempted  to  solve  all  these  troubles  by  returning,  in 
every  case,  to  the  first  name  given,  holding  that  present 
inconvenience  in  the  changing  of  many  fixed  names  would 
be  much  more  than  compensated  by  ultimate  stability 
and  uniformity.  These  changes  were  resisted  by  others, 
who  desired  to  retain  the  great  body  of  existent  names, 
even  though  these  were  not  the  first  given;  and  these 
botanists  had  developed  rules  for  the  consistent  treatment 
of  all  the  doubtful  cases.  The  rules  of  the  former,  often 
called  the  Neo-American,  school,  are  embodied  in  the 
Manual  and  other  works  of  N.  L.  Britton,  while  those 
of  the  latter,  or  Grayan  School,  are  embodied  in  the  sixth 
edition  of  Gray's  Manual.  The  original  merits  of  the 
controversy,  however,  are  not  now  so  important  as  they 
were,  because,  in  June,  1905,  the  whole  subject  was  dis- 
cussed by  an  International  Botanical  Congress  held  at 
Vienna,  with  conclusions  expressed  in  a  majority  vote. 
All  matters  at  issue  had  been  submitted  to  the  members  of 
the  Congress  long  enough  before  the  meeting  to  allow  of 
full  consideration,  and  at  the  Congress  itself  every  oppor- 


246  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

tunity  was  given  to  all  persons  to  advocate  the  merits  of 
their  respective  views.  The  result  of  the  majority  vote 
was,  of  course,  a  compromise,  but  while  it  went  against 
the  usage  of  the  Grayan  School  on  some  points,  it  went  far 
more  heavily  against  the  Neo-American  School,  and  on 
the  most  distinctive  features  of  their  system.  Since  the 
Congress,  the  leaders  of  the  Neo-American  School  have 
announced  their  intention  to  abide  substantially  by  their 
own  system,  but  the  leaders  of  the  Grayan  School  have 
declared  their  intention  to  conform  to  the  decisions  of 
the  International  Congress  in  every  particular.  Recently 
the  Grayan  leaders  have  brought  out  the  seventh  edition 
of  Gray's  Manual,  which  embodies  completely  the 
decisions  of  the  Congress,  and  is  the  first  American  work 
to  do  so.  This  book,  therefore,  with  its  sanction  of  inter- 
national approval,  gives  promise  of  stability  in  nomencla- 
ture, so  far  as  the  plants  within  its  range  are  concerned, 
and  any  future  changes  should  be  due  to  advance  of 
knowledge  of  plant  classification,  and  not  to  extraneous 
manipulation  of  their  names. 

Many  matters  are  thus  in  transition  in  our  science,  but 
the  possibility  of  watching,  and,  yet  better,  of  taking  part 
in,  the  constant  progress  towards  better  knowledge,  is  one 
of  its  greatest  charms. 


PART    II 

OUTLINES   AND   DIRECTIONS   FOR   A 

SYNTHETIC   GENERAL   COURSE   IN    THE 

SCIENCE   OF   BOTANY 


INTRODUCTION  TO  PART  II 

The  principles  which  have  controlled  the  construction 
of  these  outlines  have  been  set  forth  fully  in  the  preceding 
chapters,  but  it  will  be  worth  while  to  summarize  them 
here.  The  ideal  is  to  guide  the  student  to  the  optimum 
return  of  sound  scientific  training  and  thorough  botanical 
knowledge  for  the  time  and  strength  he  can  put  into  the 
work.  Hence  the  outlines  are  a  study  in  educational 
economy,  with  three  principal  phases:  first,  the  selec- 
tion of  the  most  vital  and  illuminating  topics  from  the 
various  divisions  of  the  science;  second,  the  introduction 
of  the  topics  in  such  an  order  as  will  make  them  throw 
most  light  upon  one  another;  third,  the  presentation  of 
the  topics  in  a  form  found  best  for  drawing  out  the  efforts 
and  interest  of  students  of  the  age  usual  in  such  a  course. 
The  outlines  have  been  worked  out  in  the  actual  laboratory 
practice  of  a  good  many  years,  with  constant  account  of 
practical  considerations  of  expense,  time,  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  school  and  college  year. 

The  general  plan  of  the  entire  course  is  the  double 
one  now  approved  by  experience,  used  by  most  teachers, 
and  embodied   in  our  most  authoritative  text-books  and 

249 


250  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

standard  courses.  The  first  division  treats  of  the  leading 
facts  of  plant  structure  and  function ;  that  is,  of  morphology 
including  anatomy,  and  of  physiology  with  ecology. 
The  second  division  considers  the  particular  structure, 
habits,  reproduction,  and  relationships  (those  subjects 
grouped  under  the  old  term  of  Natural  History),  with 
the  economics  of  plants  in  the  principal  groups  from  the 
Algae  to  the  Spermatophytes, 

In  Division  I  a  beginning  is  made  with  large,  simple, 
somewhat  familiar  objects,  requiring  no  tools,  but  only 
the  undivided  attention  of  eye  and  thought.  It  is  sought 
first  to  develop  the  scientific  or  inductive  habit  of  thought, 
with  the  correlated  use  of  observation,  comparison,  and 
experiment.  Tools  are  gradually  introduced,  the  simpler 
first,  while  the  less  familiar  instruments,  materials,  and 
-topics  follow  later.  The  physiological  experiments, 
arranged  to  be  tried  with  apparatus  designed  especially 
for  demonstration,  are  generally  introduced  in  connection 
with  the  study  of  the  particular  organs  upon  whose  struc- 
ture they  throw  most  light.  New  topics  are  presented  to 
the  student,  as  a  rule,  in  the  form  of  problems  so  arranged 
as  to  be  solved  through  proper  inductive  processes  by  his 
own  efforts;  and  thus  the  topics  form  a  series  of  subjec- 
tively original  investigations.  These  problems  are  in- 
troduced by  questions  asked  in  a  form  to  which  much 
study  has  been  devoted.  Indeed,  the  form  of  the  ques- 
tions  is  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  such  outlines 


INTRODUCTION   TO    PART   II 


251 


as  these,  for  through  them  the  student's  energy  may  be 
conserved,  his  attack  on  his  problems  may  be  made  efTec- 
tive,  and  much  both  of  stimulus  and  suggestion  may  be 
conveyed.  It  is  by  no  means  only  the  easiest  or  most 
familiar,  topics  and  experiments  which  are  here  recom- 
mended, but  a  direct  attack  has  been  made  upon  the 
most  fundamental  and  important. 

Since  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  a  correct  concep- 
tion of  the  meaning  of  the  modem  science  of  Botany  that 
the  student's  introduction  to  it  should  be  made  through 
the  study  of  plants  alive  and  at  work,  and  since,  in  our 
climate,  and  especially  in  city  schools,  much  accurate  field 
work  is  impracticable,  the  tracing  of  some  living  plant, 
which  can  be  grown  in  house  or  greenhouse,  through  its 
life  cycle,  forms  the  best  beginning  known  to  me.  Since 
plants  develop  from  the  seed  with  relative  rapidity,  and 
the  phenomena  of  their  growth,  movements,  etc.,  can 
readily  be  seen  and  experimented  upon,  the  germination 
of  the  seed,  introduced  by  a  study  of  the  seed  itself,  affords 
a  very  effective  starting  point.  After  a  single  plant  has 
been  followed  through  its  cycle  from  seed  to  seed,  the 
modifications  of  this  typical  form,  in  response  to  the 
different  habits,  are  taken  up,  and  then  the  different 
members  —  leaf,  stem,  root,  flower,  fruit  —  are  studied 
in  detail  as  to  their  structure  and  functions.  Practically, 
the  leading  botanical  phenomena  may  be  worked  out  best 
in  the  higher  plants,  because  these  are  larger,  more  famil- 


252  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

iar,  and  easier  to  obtain  and  to  keep  alive,  than  are  most 
of  the  lower  kinds. 

In  Division  II,  living  plants  which  may  be  studied  alive 
and  which,  in  many  cases,  may  easily  be  seen  in  their 
native  haunts,  where  attention  can  be  called  to  their  habits, 
are  used  whenever  possible.  With  the  knowledge  and 
training  acquired  in  Division  I,  the  students  work  through 
this  second  division  with  much  facility  and  profit,  and  it 
is  by  no  means  inferior  in  value  to  the  former.  Here  the 
lower,  or  cryptogamic,  plants  receive  their  proper  atten- 
tion, and  here,  too,  is  the  rightful  place  of  classification. 
In  these  outlines  I  have  retained  the  plan  of  proceeding 
from  the  lower  to  the  higher  forms,  but  I  do  so  because  this 
fits  best  with  the  availability  of  materials  through  the  year. 
Were  this  condition  not  determinative,  and,  in  any  case, 
if  the  course  began  with  Division  II,  I  should  certainly 
reverse  this  order  and  begin  with  the  higher  forms. 

In  using  these  outlines  it  is  by  no  means  expected  that 
any  teacher  will  try  to  follow  them  exactly;  although  at 
the  same  time,  in  view  of  the  amount  of  careful  trial  and 
experiment  which  has  brought  them  into  their  present 
form,  one  should  have  good  reasons  for  the  changes  he 
makes.  Of  course  many  practical  considerations  are 
likely  to  make  it  impossible  to  provide  the  exact  materials 
called  for,  or  to  take  up  the  topics  or  experiments  in  order. 
For  this  reason  I  have  not  attempted  to  arrange  the  out- 
lines to  fit  definite  weeks  of  work,  but  have  grouped  the 


INTRODUCTION   TO   PART   II  253 

exercises  by  subjects,  which  themselves  follow  in  an  order 
partly  natural  and  partly  adaptive  to  the  conditions  of 
the  school  or  college  year.  Indeed,  it  is  in  general  very 
hard  to  provide  the  materials  to  fit  any  particular  set  of 
outlines,  and  it  is  much  easier  and  more  logical  to  make 
outlines  to  fit  the  materials.  These  outlines  are,  there- 
fore, primarily  a  series  of  suggestions,  based  on  consid- 
erable experience,  representing  useful  selection  and  treat- 
ment of  topics  and  expression  of  problems.  They  may 
serve  as  a  basis  or  as  models  for  the  teacher  in  the  con- 
struction of  new  outlines  of  his  own,  which  may  differ  from 
these  as  little,  or  as  much,  as  he  finds  best.  Certainly,  I 
think,  a  special  outline  should  be  drawn  up  by  the  teacher 
each  week  to  fit  his  particular  mode  of  teaching,  the 
material  available,  and  the  state  of  advancement  of  his 
class  ;  and  a  copy  of  this  should  be  placed  before  each  stu- 
dent, who  should  be  held  responsible  for  the  complete 
working  out  of  all  that  is  called  for  upon  it.  Directions 
for  details  of  study  must  be  given  the  students  by  the 
teacher;  when  given  verbally,  some  students  do  not  hear 
them,  and  others  forget  them,  but  the  written  outline  keeps 
them  before  all.  So  great  is  the  advantage  of  these  weekly 
guides  in  economizing  the  teacher's  time  and  strength, 
and  in  giving  definiteness  and  direction  to  the  student's 
work,  that  there  is,  in  my  experience,  no  teaching  device  of 
greater  worth.  There  is  not  the  slightest  objection  to 
them  on  the  score  of  weakening  the  student's  self-reliance, 


254 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


and  when  given  a  proper  form,  they  can  be  made  a  real 
stimulus.  They  dehver  the  teacher  completely  from  that 
otherwise-familiar  and  ever- harrowing  question,  "What 
do  you  want  me  to  do  next?"  Such  outlines  do  not,  of 
course,  replace  the  general  introduction,  and  the  sum- 
maries given  by  the  teacher  from  time  to  time  during  the 
laboratory  period. 

The  experiments  here  given  are  such  as  seem  to  me 
most  illuminating.  Experiments  much  easier  to  try  are 
available  in  abundance,  but  many  of  them  are  concerned 
with  comparatively  unimportant  topics;  and  it  is  worth 
while  to  go  to  some  extra  trouble  to  illustrate  the  more 
fundamental  matters.  Along  with  the  suggestions  on 
teaching  I  have  treated  the  physiological  experiments  in 
considerable  detail,  because  a  knowledge  of  these  subjects 
is  not  yet  so  common  as  is  knowledge  of  structure  and 
classification. 

The  entire  course  as  given  in  the  outlines  will  require  a 
full  year  of  work  under  more  favorable  conditions  than 
most  of  us  can  command.  I  must  confess  that  I  cannot 
cover  it  all  with  my  own  classes  in  a  year  of  thirty-five 
working  weeks,  of  four  hours  laboratory,  one  hour  demon- 
stration or  recitation,  one  hour  lecture  (with  two  hours 
outside  preparation)  each  week,  though  we  do  not  have  to 
omit  much.  I  have  not  tried  especially  to  keep  the  outlines 
within  the  limits  of  possible  work  for  a  year,  but  rather  I 
have  sought  to  include  all  topics  which  seem  suitable  to  an 


INTRODUCTION   TO    PART   II  255 

elementary  course,  leaving  it  to  the  teacher  to  select  the 
parts  he  prefers.  Consequently,  no  teacher  need  feel  dis- 
couraged by  their  length,  and  imagine  that  his  course,  be- 
cause falling  much  short  of  this  amount,  is,  therefore,  more 
deficient  than  the  average. 

The  course  is  designed  to  serve  as  a  unit  for  entrance  to 
college,  but  that  is  not  its  primary  purpose,  which  is  rather 
to  provide  a  guide  to  the  elements  of  botanical  education 
for  those  who  go  no  farther  with  the  subject. 

If  but  half  of  a  year  can  be  given  to  the  subject,  the 
teacher  should  concentrate  upon  one  of  the  divisions,  and 
not  attempt  to  select  topics  from  both. 


DIVISION  I 

THE  STRUCTURE  AND  FUNCTIONS  OF 

PLANTS 

I.   The  Structure  of  Seeds 
I.  a.  Study  the  outside  of  the  dry  Lima  Beans;    com- 
pare several  specimens,  and  determine  the  fea- 
tures common   to   all   in   distinction  from  those 
which  are  individual ;  minutely  observe :  — 
(i)  What  is  the  typical  shape? 

(2)  What  is  the  color? 

(3)  What  are  the  characteristic  markings? 

Answer,  as  far  as  possible,  by  drawings  of  a  typical 
specimen  made  twice  the  natural  size;  add  notes  to 
describe  the  features  which  drawing  cannot  express. 

b.  Study  the  soaked  beans,  and  observe  the  effects  of  the 
soaking  upon  the  original  size,  shape,  and  mark- 
ings.    Then  remove  the  coat  and  observe :  — 
(i)  How  many  coats  are  there? 

(2)  Do  the  external  markings  bear  any  relation 

to  the  structures  inside? 

(3)  .What  shapes  have  the  structures    inside, 

and  how  are  they  connected  with  one 
another  ? 
s    .  257 


258  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Answer  as  before  by  drawings  aiid  notes,   the  Jortner 
natural  size. 

2.  Study  fully  in  the  same  way  the  Horse  Bean. 

3.  In  a  concise  table  express   the   resemblances   and  the 

differences  between  the  Lima  and  the  Horse  Beans. 

Materials.  —  White  Lima  Beans  (Phaseolus  lunatus)  and 
Horse  Beans  {Vicia  Faba  equina)  (about  six  of  each  to  a 
student)  may  be  bought  in  all  large  seed  stores.  String 
Beans  {Phaseolus  vulgaris)  may  replace  the  Lima,  and  Wind- 
sor Beans  {Vicia  Faba)  may  be  substituted  for  the  Horse 
Beans,  and  other  kinds  will  do;  but  those  selected  should  be 
large,  and  such  that  in  one  the  cotyledons  come  above  ground 
in  germination,  and  in  the  other  they  remain  below.  Half  of 
each  kind  should  be  soaked  over  night. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  The  great  merit  of  this  work 
upon  seeds  is  this:  that  it  affords  an  exceptionally  favor- 
able beginning  for  training  in  the  elemental  scientific  faculties 
of  observation  and  comparison,  without  any  of  the  complica- 
tions introduced  by  the  use  of  unfamiliar  materials,  manipu- 
lation, or  tools.  Its  value,  however,  from  this  point  of  view 
depends  largely  upon  the  skill  with  which  the  teacher  em- 
ploys it.  No  instruments  are  needed  aside  from  a  pocket 
knife  or  the  scalpels  of  the  dissecting  sets. 

(i)  On  Observation.  —  It  is  of  first  importance  that  the 
student  learn  to  see  natural  facts  absolutely  as  such,  unin- 
fluenced by  any  explanation  of  them.  Hence  he  should  be 
kept  at  work  upon  the  Lima  Beans  until  he  has  seen  clearly 
(as  shown  by  his  drawings,  notes,  and  replies  under  question- 
ing) these  facts,  —  which  of  his  specimens  are  average  or 
typical:    what  their  typical  shape  and  color  is:    the  radiat- 


THE   STRUCTURE   OF   SEEDS  259 

ing  markings,  stopping  short  of  the  edge:  faint  concentric 
markings  (not  always  visible) :  the  large  scar  on  the  concave 
edge,  with  a  tiny  pit  at  one  end,  and  at  the  other  a  minute 
yellowish  triangle,  or  raised  structure,  which  continues  into  a 
faint  ridge  ending  in  a  more  raised  portion,  the  latter  making 
an  angle  as  seen  from  the  side.  Observation  consists  not  only 
in  seeing  all  these  things,  but  in  seeing  them  in  their  correct 
relative  positions  and  connections.  Neither  names  for  the 
structures,  nor  explanations  of  their  meaning,  should  be  given 
until  after  the  things  have  been  seen,  some  curiosity  aroused 
as  to  their  use,  and  a  need  developed  for  terms  to  designate 
them. 

On  removing  the  seed  coat,  the  student  should  see,  —  the 
single  coat:  the  thick  Hne  representing  the  ridge  he  saw 
outside:  the  lack  of  any  connection  between  exterior  mark- 
ings and  the  structures  inside,  excepting  only  that  the  mi- 
cropyle  is  over  the  end  of  the  hypocotyl  (not  of  course  at  first 
using  those  terms).  In  the  embryo  he  should  see  that  the 
cotyledons  are  lateral  growths  from  the  hypocotyl:  and  that 
the  plumule  consists  of  a  short  stalk,  itself  a  continuation  of 
the  hypocotyl,  bearing  two  folded  veined  leaves,  one  of 
which  is  partially  inclosed  in  the  other. 

(2)  On  Comparison.  —  The  student  should  see  that  some 
cracks  and  folds  are  due  simply  to  individual  differences  in 
the  mode  of  drying,  etc.,  and  that  shape  and  size  are  variable, 
though  within  limits;  and  he  must  learn  to  select  a  typical 
specimen  for  detailed  study.  In  his  treatment  of  Exercise  3 
he  should  be  led  to  distinguish  clearly  resemblances  and 
dififerences,  and  to  describe  them  separately;  indeed,  the 
two  closely  related  though  superficially  dissimilar  seeds  are 
introduced  for  the  sake  of  training  of  this  kind. 


26o  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

(3)  On  Representation.  —  The  general  principles  under- 
lying this  part  of  the  work  are  discussed  in  Chapter  V.  Obser- 
vation should  be  made  fully  before  recording  is  begun.  As  to 
drawing,  the  students  should  first  be  given  some  general 
guidance  and  suggestions,  but  afterwards  should  be  en- 
couraged to  do  the  best  they  can  unaided,  judging  for 
themselves  how  many  and  what  kinds  of  drawings  are 
necessary  to  show  completely  such  an  object  as  the  seed  and 
its  parts.  While  all  needful  aid  should  be  given  at  the 
start,  afterward  they  should  be  made  to  complete  a  sub- 
ject the  best  they  can  before  it  is  examined  or  criticised  by 
the  teacher,  since  other\\ise  they  will  tend  to  lean  back  upon 
the  teacher's  aid,  and  will  develop  no  self-rehance.  After 
they  have  done  their  very  best,  their  work  should  at  once  be 
examined,  and  wherever  it  is  markedly  deficient  they  should 
be  encouraged  to  look  and  try  again.  After  they  have  finally 
done  all  they  can,  the  teacher  should,  step  by  step  while 
carefully  explaining  the  logic  of  each  point,  show  them  the 
best  way  he  knows  for  representing  the  objects,  A\'ith  which 
they  may  compare  their  own  efforts;  this  may  well  be  done 
for  them  all  together  on  a  blackboard.  They  are,  after  their 
own  trials,  in  a  position  to  profit  by  all  of  the  ad\'ice  thus 
given.  A  good  representation  of  the  Lima  Bean,  as  it  might 
well  be  made  by  a  beginner,  is  shown  in  Fig.  14,  though  the 
faint  radiating  lines  might  have  been  added  ;  and  Fig.  15 
ofifers  an  example  of  an  unusually  good  drawing  in  which 
shading  is  introduced.^  But  while  representation  is  made 
thus  important,  the  teacher  must  not  go  so  far  as  to  develop 
it  into  a  fetish;  for  after  all  it  is  but  a  means  to  an  end.  At 
first  only  clear  diagrams  should  be  insisted  upon;  shading, 
'This  drawing  was  made  by  a  student  of  mine,  Miss  Bertha  Bodwell. 


THE   STRUCTURE   OF   SEEDS 


261 


l.-Tnicropyle- 

hilUTTI  — 


raphe 

chalazal  an^U-^. 

Fig.  14.  —  Good    outline    drawing,    by    a 
beginner,  of  Lima  Bean ;  actual  size. 


etc.,  may  come  later.  It  is,  moreover,  very  important  not  to 
insist  upon  too  many  things  at  once,  as  this  tends  but  to 
confusion;  and  earlier  ex- 
ercises may  well  be  left 
somewhat  incomplete  for 
this  reason.  From  the 
first,  all  rough  sketches 
had  better  be  forbidden. 
Few  drawings  may  be 
made,  but  in  these  every 
line  and  spot  should  have 
its  meaning,  and  nothing 

should  be  admitted  for  which  there  is  not  an  equivalent 
in  the  seed.  Outlines  should  be  firm,  clear,  and  complete, 
and  haziness  of  any  kind  should  not  be  permitted.  The 
drawings  should  not  be  a  composite  made  up  from  several 
specimens,  but  an  accurate  drawing  of  a  typical  specimen.     As 

for  the  notes,  they  should  be 
clear,  concise,  and  well  expressed, 
and  should  include  only  such 
matter  as  can  be  expressed  bet- 
ter in  words  than  in  drawings, 
never  duplicating  information 
conveyed  by  the  latter. 

(4)  On  Knowledge  of  Seed 
Structure.  —  Their  observation 
should  teach  the  students  the 
leading  facts  of  seed  structure. 
After  they  have  seen  and  represented  the  parts,  the  teacher 
should  lead  them  to  ask  what  is  the  use  or  other  meaning  of 
each  part;  and  as  they  have  no  data  for  determining  any  of 


Fig.  15.  —  Good  shaded  draw- 
ing, by  a  student,  of  Lima 
Bean;  actual  size. 


KVhijpocotyl- 


262  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

these,  except,  perhaps,  for  the  hilum,  the  early  life  and  de- 
velopment of  the  seed  must  be  briefly  described  to  them  with 
reference  to  the  use  of  each  part.  This  appUes  in  particular 
to  the  markings,  for  the  use  of  parts  of  the  embryo  they  will 
learn  for  themselves  later.  Along  with  this,  and  after  making 
them  feel  the  need  for  concise  terms  to  describe  the  different 
features,  the  technical  names  for  the  parts  should  be  given, 
and  these  terms  may  be  impressed  the  better  upon  the  minds 

of  the  students  if  accom- 
panied by  side  remarks 
upon    their    etymology, 

I    1     ,  1  1     etc.     Of    course    names 

• --cotuledon5- -  I        .         u    ^  v. 

J  '  '     and  uses  should  be  care- 

fully recorded  with  the 
drawings  and  notes. 
Fig.  16.  — Good  outline  drawing,   by   a         The  terms  and  princi- 

beginner,  of  embryo    of   Lima   Bean;      pal  useS  to  which  atten- 
actual  size.  .  ,        ,  ,   ,  ,,     , 

tion  should  be  called  are 
these;  —  Coat  (only  one  in  the  bean):  Hilum  (the  very 
ob\aous  scar  of  the  attachment  of  the  seed  to  the  pod): 
Micropyle  (the  opening  through  which  the  pollen  tube  en- 
tered the  ovule  for  fertilization):  Strophiole  (small  in  some 
beans,  and  prominent  in  others,  of  uncertain  meaning,  but 
generally  viewed  as  a  rudiment  of  an  additional  seed  coat): 
Raphe  (a  part  of  the  stalk  of  the  ovule  grown  thereto) :  Em- 
bryo: Cotyledons:  Eypocotyl  (a  better  term  than  Caulicle, 
and  far  better  than  the  old  and  misleading  term  Radicle):- 
and  Plumule  (the  first  bud  of  the  new  plant).  The  Chalaza, 
the  place  where  stalk,  coats,  and  interior  part  (nucellus) 
originally  came  together,  and  where  the  stalk  (later  in  part 
forming  the  raphe)  distributed  the  nourishment  to  the  other 


THE    STRUCTURE   OF   SEEDS  263 

parts,  does  not  really  exist  in  the  seed,  although  its  position 
can  sometimes  be  determined  by  a  marked  angle  (which  may 
be  termed  the  chalazal  angle)  at  the  end  of  the  raphe. 

In  the  demonstrations  accompanying  the  work  of  this  first 
period  the  teacher  will  find  it  well  to  take  the  students  into 
confidence,  to  an  extent  and  in  ways  appropriate  to  their 

...[jlumule       ^      ~\^ 
S(.aT  dj  cotijkdonj  \^ 

hijpocoiijl   (  \ 

---cotijledons--\--  I 


Fig.  17.  —  Good  outline  drawing,  by  a  beginner,  of  embryo  of  Lima  Bean 

laid  open;     actual  size. 

age,  as  to  the  general  scope  and  interest  of  Botany,  the  value 
and  general  method  of  laboratory  work,  and  the  correct 
attitude  towards  scientific  study.  Also,  it  is  an  advantage 
to  explain  to  them,  through  the  intermediation  of  recaUing 
the  facts  famihar  to  everybody  about  the  growth  of  plants, 
the  logic  of  beginning  their  study  with  the  seed  and  of  follow- 
ing the  plant  through  its  cycle  of  growth  back  to  the  seed. 
In  connection  with  drawing,  after  they  have  made  their  own 
attempts  thereat,  the  teacher  should  give  them  an  idea  of 
the  qualities  of  good  scientific  drawing,  with  illustrations  of 
good  and  bad  kinds. 

Seeds  form  interesting  objects  for  collecting,  and  therefore 
may  be  used  as  a  basis  for  the  development  of  the  collecting 
instinct,  that  valuble  attribute  of  the  naturalist.  This  is 
aside  from  the  value  of  the  collection  in  itself,  which  is  great. 


264  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

II.    The  Morphology  of  Seeds  and  Embryos 

4.  a.  Study   the   outside   of    a    typical   specimen   of    the 
Horse-chestnut  and  minutely  observe :  — 

(i)  Wliat  is  its  shape,  its  color,  and  its  markings  ? 
(2)  Does  it  show  any  structures  not  in  the  Beans, 
or  lack  any  that  occur  in  those  seeds? 
h.  Remove    the    coatings    from    a    soaked    seed,    and 
observe :  — 

(i)  How  many  coats  are  there,  and  how  are  the 
markings  related  to  structures  inside? 

(2)  What  shapes  have  the  parts  of  the  embryo, 

and  how  are  they  connected  with  one 

•  another? 

(3)  Are  there  any  new  parts  or  features  not 

present  in  the  embryos  of  the  Beans  ? 
Answer,  as  before,  by  drawings  and    notes.     Carefully 
separate  with  the  fingers  all  parts  that  can  be  forced 
apart  without  tearing. 

5.  In  a  similar  way  study  the  seed  of  the  Morning-glory. 

6.  In  a  similar  way  study  the  grain  of  Com. 

Where  parts  cling  too  closely  to  be  separated  by  the  fingers, 
use  a  knife,  and  try  median  sections. 

7.  a.  In  the  form  of  a  concise  table,  compare  as  to   (a) 

resemblances  and  {h)  differences  the  four  kinds 
of  seed  you  have  studied,  —  the  Lima  Bean, 
Horse-chestnut,  Morning-glory,  and  Com. 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   OF   SEEDS  265 

b.  Construct  a  series  of  four  diagrams,  showing  by  cor- 
responding colors  the  morphologically  equivalent 
parts  in  the  four  embryos. 
Choose  such  a  view,  the  same  in  all  cases,  as  ivill  bring 
out  the  connection  between  the  parts  of  the  embryo. 
Place  this  series  on  the  upper  half  of  one  page,  and 
leave  the  remainder  for  a  related  series  to  come  later. 

8.  A  study  of  the  food  substances  of  seeds. 

-  The  invariable  presence  of  some  food  in  seeds;  the 
nature  of  the  principal  food  substances  there  found, 
with  their  characteristics  and  recognition  marks; 

the  experimental  demonstration  of  the  commonest 

* 

kind  in  the  pure  state,  and  as  occurring  in  a  half 
dozen  common  seeds  (Experiment    i) ;    stores  of 
food  in  other  parts  of  the  plant. 
Using  the  above  outline  as  a  guide,  but  utilizing  all  of  your 
sources  of  information,  write  a  synoptical  account  of 
this  subject,  including  a  clear  description  of  the  experi- 
ment. 
All  accounts  of  experiments  should  distinguish  clearly 
between  (a)  the  object,  (b)  the  method  and  instruments 
used,  (c)  the  exact  results  obtained,  and  (d)  the  con- 
clusions derived  therefrom. 

Materials.  —  For  the  purposes  of  this  exercise  the  Horse- 
chestnut  {Msculus  Hippocastanum)  is  so  valuable  a  seed 
that  every  effort  should  be  made  to  obtain  it ;  and  fortunately 
the  tree  is  grown  almost  everywhere.  In  order  to  make  these 
hard  seeds  soft  enough  to  dissect  readily,  they  should  be 


266  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

boiled  for  an  hour,  allowed  to  stand  in  the  water  for  a  day, 
and  then  dried.  The  other  seeds  can  be  bought  anywhere 
at  low  prices.  Morning-glory  {Ipomcea  purpurea)  is  the 
most  convenient  albuminous  seed,  for  although  the  Castor 
Bean  (Ricinus  communis)  is  better,  it  is  more  difficult  to 
obtain,  and  germinates  badly.  The  Morning-glory  can  be 
brought  into  the  best  condition  for  study  by  a  soaking  for 
two  days.  The  Corn  must  also  be  soaked  for  some  hours, 
preferably  over  night. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  The  object  of  this  work  is  to 
continue  training  in  observation  of  structure,  and  to  make  an  in- 
troduction to  comparison,  or  morphology.    After  their  previous 
experience,  the  students  will  easily  find  in  the  Horse-chestnut 
everything  visible  on  the  seed  coat,  including  the  fibrovascular 
bundles  on  the  hilum.     They  should  find  the  two  coats,  very 
different  from  one  another.     They  should  see  that  the  hypo- 
cotyl  does  not  He  against  the  cotyledons  as  in  the  Bean,  but 
is  separated  from  them  in  part  by  a  seeming  pocket  of  the 
coats  (really  due  to  a  folding  of  the  young  ovule  inclosing  part 
of  the  coats),  and  that  the  seeming  hypocotyl  really  splits 
down  part  of  its  length  and  has  the  plumule  at  the  bottom 
of  the  separable  structures.     In  the  Morning-glory  they  should 
find  (with  help  of  a  lens)  micropyle  and  raphe  as  well  as 
hilum,  and  the  jelly-like  endosperm,  and  the  two  cotyledons. 
In  the  Corn  they  should  see,  in  addition  to  the  other  parts, 
the  remnant  of  the  silk  (style),  and,  by  the  aid  of  sectioning, 
the  leaves   of  the  plumule;   and  on  a  failure  to  see  these 
structures  they  should  be  reminded  not  simply  to  look   at 
things,  but  also  to  move  and  separate  them. 

Morphology  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  biology.     Prac- 
tically it  consists  chiefly  in  recognizing  the  original  structural 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   OF   SEEDS  267 

nature  of  parts,  no  matter  how  much  disguised  by  changes 
of  size  and  shape.  Its  best  index  is  the  relative  positions  of 
parts.  The  Horse-chestnut  is  good  to  begin  with,  for  the 
student  may  be  led,  through  a  careful  comparison  of  the  con- 
struction of  its  embryo  with  that  of  the  Bean,  to  work  out  the 
fact  that  the  structure  which  he  at  first  always  takes  for 
"  hypocotyl  hollowed  out  with  the  plumule  at  the  bottom," 
is  really  the  stalks,  or  petioles,  of  the  cotyledons,  while  the 
hypocotyl  is  only  the  part  below  the  plumule.  In  the  Morn- 
ing-glory he  is  apt  at  first  to  mistake  the  very  leafy  cotyle- 
dons for  plumule,  but  can  be  led  to  work  out  their  true  nature. 
And  in  the  Corn  he  can  thus  discover  that  the  shield-like 
body  is  probably  a  cotyledon.  (Actually  there  is  some  slight 
doubt  on  this  point  among  experts,  but  it  is  probably  true, 
and  can  be  so  treated,  with  a  suitable  caution  to  the  students.) 
His  discovery  of  the  remnant  of  the  style  on  the  corn  grain, 
and  his  inabiUty  to  find  any  equivalent  for  it  on  the  other 
seeds,  may  be  used  to  introduce  an  explanation  of  the  com- 
position of  this  grain  as  ovary  united  to  seed ;  and  he  can 
then  understand  why  no  micropyle  is  visible,  and  that  the 
scar  of  attachment,  while  functionally  a  hilum,  is  not  strictly 
so  morphologically.  Sections  through  the  seed  ^^dll  not, 
however,  display  seed  coats  as  well  as  ovary  wall,  because 
the  former  are  absorbed  in  early  stages  of  development. 
The  occurrence  of  food  substance  outside  of  the  embryo  in 
Morning-glory  and  Corn  should  be  used  to  make  students  seek 
for  its  equivalent  in  Beans  and  Horse-chestnut,  and  thus  to 
work  out  the  differences  between  "  albuminous  "  and  "  ex- 
albuminous  "  seeds. 

Of  the  greatest  morphological  value  is  the  Exercise  7  (b), 
which  is  one  of  the  best  I  have  ever  tried  for  inculcating  a 


268 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


correct  idea  of  morphology,  the  more  especially  when  it  is 
later  supplemented  by  a  series  to  show  the  germinated  stages 
of  the  same  seeds.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
generalization  is,  not  natural  or  easy  to  beginners,  and 
they  will  need  some  guidance  in  the  method  of  construct- 
ing the  diagram.     In  drawing  these  diagrams  an  effort  should 


\t,M'Mf 


:k 


Fig.  i8.  —  Diagrammatic  figures  of  embryos  of  Lima  Bean,  Morning-glory, 
Horse-chestnut,  and  Corn,  shaded  to  show  morphologically  equivalent 
parts.  Diagonal  lines  =  hypocotyl;  vertical  lines  =  cotyledons;  dots  = 
plumule;  circles  =  food  substance. 

be  made  to  represent  only  the  principal  corresponding  parts 
placed  in  corresponding  positions.  The  diagrams  should  look 
somewhat  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  i8,  except  that  the  equiva- 
lent parts  can  be  brought  out  much  better  by  colored  pencils 
than  by  the  black  and  white  lines  here  made  necessary  by 
the  method  of  engraving.  The  food  substance  may  be 
represented  by  small  circles  of  blue,  or  of  some  other 
color.  In  7  (a)  they  should  not  run  to  details  of  little 
importance,  and  resemblances  should  be  emphasized  as  well 
as  differences. 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   OF   SEEDS  269 

About  this  time  a  tendency  will  manifest  itself  to  turn  the 
laboratory  exercise  into  a  drawing  lesson ;  this  must  be 
firmly  met  by  making  it  plain  that  the  laboratory  time  is 
for  observation  and  the  essentials  of  recording,  and  that  all 
niceties  of  shading,  etc. ,  must  be  added  in  outside  time,  though 
rapid  workers  may  naturally  be  permitted  some  Uberty  in 
this  respect. 

No  new  terms  are  needed  except  endosperm  and  albumen, 
the  latter  only  in  connection  with  the  compounds  "  albumi- 
nous "  and  "  ex-albuminous."  It  is  best  not  to  give  at  all 
any  terms  of  very  limited  application,  such  as  "  scutellum." 

While  the  subject  of  the  structure  of  the  seed  is  fresh  in 
mind,  it  will  be  well  for  the  students  to  read  the  very  fine 
chapter  on  this  subject  in  either  of  Dr.  Gray's  text-books. 
Many  additional  exercises  on  seeds  are  outlined  in  the  vari- 
ous text-books,  and  if  other  materials  for  the  next  following 
exercises  are  wanting,  or  some  students  manifest  a  special 
interest  in  the  subject,  these  may  well  be  introduced.  But 
for  most  students  it  is  more  profitable  to  pass  on  to  other 
subjects   than   to   spend  additional   time   upon   this. 

Here,  as  in  all  subjects,  the  teacher  should  supplement 
and  extend  the  very  limited,  even  though  thorough,  knowl- 
edge derived  from  laboratory  study,  by  a  comprehensive 
account,  in  demonstration  or  lecture,  of  the  topic  from  various 
points  of  view.  He  should  exhibit  the  range  of  seeds  in  form, 
size,  color,  and  comparative  development  of  embryo  and  food 
substance,  but  should  postpone  the  explanation  of  the  meaning 
of-  the  various  appendages  until  the  next  topic  (Ecology  of 
seeds)  is  studied.  Of  course  the  subject  will  be  illustrated  as 
thoroughly  as  possible  by  diagrams  and  museum  specimens. 
A  general  account  should  also  be  given,  in  connection  with 


270  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

an  explanation  of  raphe  and  micropyle,  of  the  development 
of  the  seed  from  the  ovule. 

Physiology.  —  Here  also  comes  properly  the  study  of  the 
first  of  the  physiological  topics,  —  the  kinds  of  plant  food; 
for  these  are  better  shown  in  seeds  than  anywhere  else.  The 
principal  plant  foods  should  be  exhibited  in  good  permanent 
specimens,  —  starch,  grape  sugar,  cane  sugar,  cellulose  (from 
ivory  nuts  or  date  seeds),  oil  {e.g.  cotton-seed  oil),  and  pro- 
teins, all  of  which  can  be  bought  at  low  price  from  chemical 
supply  companies.  Some  of  these  foods  (e.g.  the  sugars)  are 
rare  in  seeds,  but  this  is  a  good  opportunity  to  consider  all 
the  principal  plant  foods  together.  The  appearance  and 
different  uses  of  these  substances,  and  their  microscopical 
appearance  (in  diagrams  at  least) ,  should  be  made  thoroughly 
.known,  with  a  mention  of  the  principal  tests  or  recognition 
marks;  and  it  should  be  made  plain  that  they  occur  also  in 
other  storage  parts  of  plants,  in  tubers,  bulbs,  fleshy  roots, 
buds,  and  elsewhere.  The  iodine  test  for  starch  should 
be  experimentally  demonstrated  on  both  specimen  starch 
and  some  seeds  (Experiment  i).  A  good  iodine  solution  for 
this  purpose  is  described  on  a  later  page  (p.  2q6).  I  doubt 
whether  it  is  profitable  in  time  and  effort  for  the  students 
to  apply  the  tests  for  other  substances,  but  if  the 
teacher  differs  from  me  here,  he  will  find  very  good  simple 
directions  for  the  use  of  these  tests  in  Bergen's  Essentials  of 
Botany,  or  in  Osterhout's  Experiments  with  Plants.  Then 
the  students  should  be  led  to  recall  that  these  substances, 
which  constitute  plant  food,  are  the  principal  food  of  animals 
also;  and  the  great  economic  importance  of  seeds,  as  forming 
the  principal  food  of  mankind  and  of  many  domestic  ani- 
mals, should  receive  consideration  and  emphasis. 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   OF   SEEDS 


271 


In  connection  with  the  physiological  experiments  the 
teacher  should  consult  the  general  discussion  of  this  sub- 
ject in  an  earlier  chapter  (page  80).  I  have  found  it  most 
advantageous  to  require  the  students  to  write  up  each  ex- 
periment as  part  of  a  brief  exposition  of  the  physiological 
subject  to  which  it  belongs,  the  other  data  therefor  being 
given  in  demonstration  or  lecture.  Hence,  in  the  outlines,  a 
skeleton  or  synopsis  is  given  {e.g.  as  under  Section  8),  indi- 
cating by  leading  words  the  principal  matters  concerned,  and 
incorporating  the  experiment  in  its  suitable  place  and  con- 
nection; and  this  synopsis  serves  as  a  guide  to  the  student  in 
writing  his  account  of  the  subject.  The  teacher  should  be 
especially  careful,  in  the  records  of  the  experiments,  to  insist 
that  a  clear  distinction  be  made  between  the  four  logically- 
distinct  features,  the  object  of  the  experiment,  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  method  and  appliances  used  (with  illustration 
where  contributory  to  clearness),  the  actual  results  obtained, 
and  the  conclusions.  A  clear  differentiation  between  the 
third  and  fourth  in  particular  is  indispensable  to  good  scien- 
tific exposition. 

Considerable  simple  physiological  experimentation  upon  the 
growth  of  seeds  in  relation  to  temperature,  light,  moisture, 
and  oxygen,  is  possible,  and  described  especially  in  Bergen's 
text-books.  Most  of  these  facts  thus  proved,  however,  are 
not  specially  characteristic  of  seeds,  but  apply  to  other 
stages  of  growth  as  well,  and  some  of  them  are  noted  later  in 
these  outlines.  In  general,  as  regards  physiological  experi- 
ments, I  believe  it  is  much  better  to  concentrate  upon  a  few, 
dealing  with  those  topics  which  illuminate  the  most  funda- 
mental matters,  and  to  do  them  thoroughly  well,  rather  than 
tp  do  more,  of  lesser  worth,  and  less  perfectly. 


272  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

III.  The  Ecology  of  Seeds 

9.  The  seed    is    the   only    stage    in    which    most    plants 

can  be  spread  from  their  place  of  origin.  Since 
seeds  have  no  power  of  independent  locomo- 
tion, they  secure  this  dissemination  only  by  aid 
of  other  natural  agencies  which  do  move. 
Many  adaptive  features,  such  as  special  ap- 
pendages, peculiarities  of  form,  etc.,  exist,  en- 
abling the  seeds  thus  to  be  carried. 
What  different  moving  agencies  in  nature  can 
you  think  of,  which  could  carry  suitably-con- 
structed seeds? 

10.  Study  the  ten  seeds  supplied  to  you.     In  each  case  work 

out  and  record  :  — 
(i)  To  what  moving  agency  are  the  appendages 
probably  adapted? 

(2)  What   accessory    features    of    shape,   weight, 

etc.,  are  found  in  the  seed  itself? 

(3)  WTiat  part  produces  the  appendages? 

11.  Write  a  concise  essay  (of  not  more  than  300  words) 

preceded  by  a  tabular  outline  of  contents,  upon 
the  principal  facts  deduced  from  your  laboratory 
work,  from  the  lectures,  and  from  your  reading, 
as  to  the  structure,  morphology,  economics,  and 
ecology  of  seeds. 


THE   ECOLOGY   OF   SEEDS  273 

Materials.  —  These,  of  course,  must  chiefly  be  collected 
beforehand  in  the  summer,  though  some  should  be  brought 
in  by  the  students  while  others  are  drawn  from  gardens  or 
the  museum  collection.  They  should  include  all  of  the  prin- 
cipal types  of  dissemination  methods.  Especially  good  kinds 
are  those  of  Maple,  Milkweed,  Clematis,  Agrimony,  Spruce 
or  Pine,  Desmodium,  Ptelea,  Elm,  Xanthium,  Burdock, 
Bidens,  Dandelion,  Tecoma  or  Catalpa,  Erodium,  Witch 
Hazel,  Violet,  Galium,  Castor  Bean,  Geranium  maculatum. 
It  is  desirable  to  have,  as  in  this  list,  some  seeds  and  some 
*'  fruits."  Certain  kinds,  e.g.  Violets,  Witch  Hazel,  Castor 
Beans,  will  hurl  out  their  seeds  with  considerable  disturb- 
ance, and  to  good  educational  effect,  if  the  fruits  are  brought 
when  nearly  ripe  into  the  dry  air  of  the  laboratory. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  is  designed  for 
further  training  in  observation  and  comparison  (morphology), 
but  especially  for  an  introduction  to  ecology  (i.e.  adaptation 
to  conditions  of  the  external  world). 

In  ecology,  if  the  study  must  be  made  perforce  in  the 
laboratory  and  not  out  of  doors,  the  students  can  do  little 
better  than  guess  at  the  use  of  the  different  appendages. 
They  can,  however,  be  much  helped  if  led  to  recall  certain 
facts,  already  known  by  observation,  as  to  the  carrying  of 
maple,  willow,  and  other  seeds  and  fruits  by  wind,  and  the 
sticking  of  seeds  to  their  clothes  in  their  walks  through  autumn 
fields,  as  well  as  by  some  simple  experiments,  suggested. by 
the  teacher,  upon  the  different  seeds  in  the  laboratory.  The 
use  of  berries  and  other  pulpy  fruits  must  be  suggested  by 
the  teacher,  since  it  could  hardly  be  imagined  from  laboratory 
study.  This  work  will  involve  much  theorizing,  but  this  is 
of  the  greatest  biological  value  if  kept  checked  by  rigid  obser- 


274 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


vation  or  other  confirmation,  though  it  can  bring  intellectual 
injury  if  allowed  to  degenerate  into  untested  guessing.  In 
case  confirmation  from  outdoor  observation  is  impracticable, 
the  correctness  of  their  theories  will  ne6d  to  be  decided  by 
the  teacher,  who  should  be  thoroughly  informed  upon  the 
subject;  but  it  should  be  made  plain  that  the  teacher's 
knowledge  is  not  better  than  their  own  observation,  but  only 
a  substitute  enforced  by  circumstances.  In  Exercise  9  the 
students  will  think  of  wind,  animals,  and  probably  water  cur- 
rents, to  which,  after  hints  from  the  teacher,  they  will  add 
projection  by  spring  apparatus;  and  this  list  includes  all  of 
importance. 

In  the  drawings  by  the  students  the  important  append- 
ages should  be  clearly  brought  out;  for  example,  in  the 
Burdock,  half  of  the  students  will  not  of  themselves  represent 
the  hooked  tips,  though  these  are  plainly  visible;  in  such  cases 
the  students  should  individually  be  told  they  have  missed 
something  important,  and  left  to  seek  until  they  have  found 
and  correctly  represented  it. 

Although  the  subject  of  the  morphological  origin  of  the 
various  appendages  is  of  exceptional  interest,  the  subject  is 
rather  too  special,  and  the  available  data  too  scant,  to  permit 
the  students  to  work  it  out  for  themselves,  except  in  the 
more  obvious  cases.  But  it  should  be  completed  in  demon- 
stration, the  teacher  supplying  information  as  to  the  struc- 
ture of  flower  and  fruit.  The  student  will  learn  therefrom 
the  great  ecological  principles  that  structures  identical 
ecologically  may  have  very  different  origins  morphologically 
and  vice  versa,  and  that  function  has  an  apparent  great  power 
of  molding  structures. 

A  fully-illustrated  account  of  this  very  important  subject 


THE   ECOLOGY   OF   SEEDS  275 

of  seed  dissemination,  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  all  botani- 
cal topics  to  most  people,  should  be  given  in  a  demonstra- 
tion or  lecture.  Books  relating  to  it  may  be  found  cited  in 
Chapter  VIII.  Other  apparent  adaptations  in  seeds  may  also 
be  illustrated,  such  as  their  protection  against  animals  while 
unripe,  their  modes  of  absorbing  water,  and  the  means  whereby 
some  kinds  secure  their  own  planting. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  that  this  subject  is  an 
extremely  profitable  one  for  field  study,  especially  as  its 
natural  place  in  the  course  brings  it  into  the  very  best  time 
of  the  year  for  the  purpose. 

After  the  completion  of  this  study  of  seeds,  an  essay  on 
the  subject  is  desirable,  upon  the  principle  discussed  in  Chap- 
ter V  (p.  105).  After  the  students  have  done  their  best 
on  tills  essay,  it  will  be  well  to  read  them  one  written  by  the 
teacher  as  a  model.  In  illustration  of  this  matter  I  venture 
to  add  here  the  one  I  have  read  for  this  purpose  to  my  own 
students:  — 

Seeds 

General  Function. 

Structure,  —  Coats,  Embryo,  Food  substance. 

Economics. 

Dissemination. 

The  seed  is  a  separable  portion  of  specialized  plant  sub- 
stance securing  reproduction  and  dissemination.  Under  a  va- 
riety of  forms,  sizes,  colors,  and  special  structures,  seeds  have 
in  common  the  coats,  embryo,  and  food  substance.  The 
coats,  one  or  two,  are  protective,  and  the  outer  usually  shows 
the  scar  of  attachment  to  the  pod  (hilum),  a  pit  by  which 
the  fertilizing  pollen  tube  entered  (micropyle),  and  an  at- 
tached part  of  the  ovule  stalk  (raphe).     Within  the  coat  is 


276  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

the  embryo,  which  is  the  young  plant;  it  consists  of  stem 
(hypocotyl),  on  which  are  placed  laterally  one  or  two  leaves 
(cotyledons),  and  which  merges  upwards  into  the  bud  (plu- 
mule). The  food  substance  may  be  stored  in  the  cotyle- 
dons, making  them  thick,  or  around  them,  or  in  both  ways. 
This  food  substance  not  only  serves  to  nourish  the  young 
plants,  but  is  utilized  for  food  by  man,  as  well  as  by  many 
other  animals. 

Transportation  is  as  essential  to  plants  as  to  animals,  and 
since  the  adults  cannot  move,  the  seed  is  generally  utilized 
as  the  transportation  stage,  and  on  it  are  developed  append- 
ages which  cause  it  to  be  carried  by  some  of  the  natural 
moving  agencies.  These  appendages  may  be  outgrowths  of  the 
seed  coat,  or  of  ovary,  style,  or  calyx,  which  are  retained. 
They  may  consist  of  wings  or  plumes  utiUzing  the  wind: 
hooks  attaching  them  to  the  fur  of  animals:  pulp,  sur- 
rounding indigestible  coatings,  eaten  by  animals:  and 
other  peculiarities  of  form  or  structure;  or  such  peculiarities 
may  be  absent  altogether,  in  which  case  the  smooth,  round 
seeds  are  often  projected  by  the  springing  of  elastic  tissues. 

Such  essays  are  equally  valuable  imder  the  various  sub- 
jects to  follow,  though  for  brevity's  sake  all  mention  of  them 
is  henceforth  omitted  from  the  outlines.  I  think  they  are 
most  in  place  at  the  close  of  subjects  VI,  VIII,  XIII,  XVII, 
and  each  of  the  subjects  of  Part  II. 

IV.    The  Germination  of  Seeds  and  Growth  of  Embryos 

to  Seedlings 

12.  Study  the  germinating  String  Beans,  and,  in  compari- 
son with  your  records  of  the  ungerminated  seed, 
observe :  — 


THE    GERMINATION    OF   SEEDS  277 

Ci)  Whether  all  seeds  have  developed  at  the 
same  rate.  If  not,  can  you  see  any 
reason  for  the' differences? 

(2)  Where    has    the    coat   been   burst    and    by 

what  force,  do  you  think? 

(3)  What  change  has  occurred  in  the  food  sub- 

stance ? 

(4)  Wliat  changes  of  shape,  size,  and  color  have 

occurred  in  the  parts  originally  in  the  seed  ? 

(5)  Have  any  new  parts  appeared? 

(6)  Does    hypocotyl,  root,    or   epicotyl    develop 

most  rapidly?     Can  you  imagine  a  reason 
therefor. 

(7)  What  part  appears  first  above  ground? 

(8)  What   are   the    relative    positions    of    main 

and  side  roots? 
Answer   in  words   or  by  drawings,  whichever  is  most  ex- 
pressive. 

13.  Study  in  the  same  manner  the  other  germinating  seeds, 

viz.  (a)  the    Horse  Bean,  (6)    the   Morning-glory, 
(c)  the  Com. 

14.  In  young  seedlings,   what  positions  do   the  growing 

hypocotyl,   root,  and  plumule    take    relatively  to: 

(a)  The  position  of  the  seed  as  planted? 

(b)  Any  feature  of  the  environment  ? 

Illustrate  by  a  series  of  outline  drawings  of  three  or  four 
Corn  seedlings. 


278  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

15.  A  study  of  the  digestion  of  plant  food  in  germination. 
The  change  of  appearance  of  the  food  in  seeds  during 
germination;  its  disappearance  from  the  seed: 
mode  of  its  transformation  to  a  soluble  form,  —  that 
is,  digestion,  —  with  an  experimental  test  of  the  di- 
gestion of  starch  by  the  enzyme  diastase  (Experi- 
ment 2) ;  general  nature  of  the  digestion  of  other 
foods  in  the  seed,  and  of  others  elsewhere  in  the 
plant;  relations  of  plant  digestion  to  animal  di- 
gestion. 
Write  a  synoptical  account  of  this  subject  precisely  as  for 
No.  8  earlier. 

Materials.  —  For  the  profitable  study  of  this  and  the  two 
following  exercises,  plants  alive  and  growing  are  indispen- 
sable. Happily  they  are  obtainable  under  almost  all  condi- 
tions. The  seeds  can  be  germinated  and  grown  to  sturdy 
seedlings  in  any  well-lighted  place  where  the  day  temperature 
approximates  70°  F.  and  does  not  fall  much  at  night,  as,  e.g.,  in 
a  greenhouse  or  Wardian  case,  though  a  schoolroom  unheated 
at  night  will  not  serve  in  cold  weather.  The  plants  must 
not  be  watered  with  chilled  water,  but  from  a  vessel  kept 
standing  long  enough  for  the  water  to  take  the  temperature 
of  the  room.  They  may  be  grown  in  any  wooden  boxes,  but 
here,  as  elsewhere  in  scientific  studies,  it  is  best  to  have  neat 
boxes,  made  and  preserved  especially  for  this  use.  After 
trial  of  many  forms  I  have  found  the  best  satisfaction  in  the 
germination  box  pictured  in  the  accompanying  figure  (Fig.  19). 
It  is  of  thin  wood,  8X6X5  (deep)  inches,  painted  (dark 
green)  for  preservation  and  has  one  glass  side  held  in  a  groove, 


THE    GERMINATION   OF   SEEDS  279 

sloping  at  about  20°  from  the  vertical.  The  advantage  of 
the  sloping  glass  is  found  in  the  clearness  with  which  the 
roots  exhibit  their  characters  as  they  press  against  it.  Made 
in  quantities  at  a  box  factory,  they  cost  10  to  12  cents  each 
complete,  and  can  be  used  for  many  years.  The  best  ma- 
terial in  which  to  grow  the  seeds  is  the  clean,  porous,  water- 


FiG.  19.  —  Germination  Box,  with  sloping  glass  front;  X  i. 

holding  sphagnum  moss  (preferably  chopped  fine),  which  is 
so  superior  to  all  other  materials  that  it  is  worth  while  to  take 
much  trouble  to  obtain  it.  It  may  be  bought  at  low  price 
from  all  dealers  in  gardeners'  supplies,  and  can  be  used  year 
after  year  indefinitely  if  occasionally  steamed  to  kill  the 
molds.  Next  best  is  sawdust,  in  which  it  is  not  so  easy  to 
keep  seedlings  healthy;  pure  pine  sawdust  is  said  to  be  best. 
Soil  or  sand  is  not  good,  since  it  is  too  difficult  to  remove  the 
seedlings  without  injury.  A  box  to  each  student,  used  until 
the  growth  is  completed,  and  returned  to  the  greenhouse 
between  periods  of  observation,  is  the  ideal  arrangement, 
though  fewer  will  suffice.  The  seeds  do  not  germinate  at  the 
same  rate,  and  need  to  be  planted  at  different  times  in  order 


28o  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

to  bring  them  along  together;  thus,  under  the  best  conditions 
the  Horse  Bean  requires  about  ten  days  (Lima  Bean  is  diffi- 
cult to  germinate  in  autumn),  String  Bean  and  Corn  eight 
days,  and  Morning-glory  six  days,  to  bring  them  into  the 
seedling  stage,  but  this  time,  of  course,  will  vary  with  the  sur- 
rounding conditions. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  is  intended  to 
continue  training  in  observation  and  comparison,  and  to  give 
a  knowledge  of  the  morphological  and  ecological  facts  in  the 
unfolding  of  the  embryo  to  the  seedling. 

The  students  should  not  fail  to  notice  that  the  root,  the 
root  hairs,  the  turning  green  of  parts  exposed  to  light,  the  axil- 
lary buds  of  the  cotyledons  in  the  Horse  Bean,  and  the  partial 
disappearance  of  food  substance,  are  new  features.  They 
should  especially  see  that  it  is  the  elongation  of  the  hypocotyl 
which  raises  the  cotyledons  in  Lima  Bean  and  Morning-glory, 
while  that  structure  does  not  increase  at  all  in  length  in  the 
Horse  Bean  and  Corn.  The  root  is,  of  course,  a  new  structure 
developed  from  the  lower  end  of  the  hypocotyl,  and  its  be- 
ginning is  usually  marked  by  a  slight  constriction  or  by  the 
first  side  roots.  Students  will  tend  to  call  the  main  root 
hypocotyl,  and  to  call  only  the  side  branches  "  roots,"  which 
must  be  corrected.  The  structure  of  the  root,  including 
the  tips  and  root  hairs,  is  very  plainly  seen  through  the 
glass,  especially  by  use  of  a  lens.  Full  labeling  of  the  draw- 
ings, in  order  to  bring  out  the  homologous  parts,  is  very 
important. 

In  ecology  they  will  notice  that  the  root  grows  faster 
than  the  plumule  (of  course  because  absorption  of  moisture 
is  a  first  need) ,  and  that  the  size  of  seed,  the  position  in  which 
it  is  planted,  and  the  amount  of  moisture  available,  all  have 


THE    GERMINATION   OF   SEEDS  281 

something  to  do  with  the  different  rates  of  development  of  the 
same  kinds  of  seeds;  and  to  these  influences  some  students 
will  probably  add  another,  viz.  a  real  difference  in  their  living 
matter,  which  is  important.  We  have  here  an  introduction 
to  facts  of  individual  variation,  so  important  in  evolution. 
They  will,  of  course,  readily  notice  in  Exercise  14  that  the 
position  taken  by  hypocotyl  and  plumule  (or  rather  epicotyl), 
in  growth,  bears  no  relation  whatsoever  to  the  position  of  the 
seed,  but  that,  regardless  of  this,  all  hypocotyls  bearing  the 
roots  grow  down,  and  all  plumules  grow  up.  With  the  aid 
of  some  suggestion  from  the  teacher,  they  can  readily  be  led 
to  see  the  ecological  advantage  of  this,  in  that  it  takes  these 
parts  into  the  positions  advantageous  for  their  respective 
functions.  From  specimens  of  each  of  the  kinds  in  the  boxes 
the  young  plumules  should  be  pinched  off,  the  results  to  be 
noted  the  next  week. 

It  would  be  of  interest  also  in  this  connection  to  study  the 
germination  of  Horse-chestnut,  but  practically  this  seed  is 
very  difficult  to  germinate. 

Physiology.  —  In  connection  with  germination  comes 
naturally  an  important  physiological  topic,  that  of  digestion. 
From  their  own  observation  the  students  will  learn  the  facts 
as  to  the  softening  and  change  of  color  of  the  seeds  in  germi- 
nation; and  the  familiar  phenomena  in  sprouting  potatoes 
should  be  recalled.  They  will  readily  understand  that  the 
insoluble  food  materials  of  the  seeds,  viz.  starch,  oils,  cellu- 
lose, and  proteins,  cannot  be  moved  through  the  tissues  in  a 
solid  form,  but  must  be  made  soluble.  This  process  is  well 
known  in  animal  physiology  where  it  is  called  digestion,  a 
name  which  is  equally  applicable  to  plants.  It  is  known  to 
the  students  that  the  saliva  effects  the  digestion  of  starch, 


282  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

a  fact  which  they  can  easily  demonstrate  for  themselves  by 
placing  some  saliva  in  water  in  a  test  tube  and  then  proceeding 
to  add  starch  as  described  below.  The  teacher  should  now 
explain  that  diastase,  the  same  as  is  contained  in  saliva, 
occurs  abundantly  in  germinating  seeds,  from  some  of  which 
{e.g.  barley)  it  can  with  some  trouble  be  obtained,  though  it 
can  also  be  bought  at  low  price  from  any  dealer  in  chemical 
supplies.  A  very  effective  experimental  demonstration  of 
digestion  of  starch  by  this  diastase  can  be  made  as  follows: 
Dissolve  I  gram  of  diastase  in  100  cc.  of  water  (which  takes 
but  a  few  minutes);  prepare  a  thin  starch  paste  by  placing 
I  gram  of  starch  in  100  cc.  of  water  in  a  conical  flask  and  bring- 
ing to  a  boil  (a  starch  paste  is  preferable  to  powdered  starch 
simply  because  the  diastase  can  get  at  it  more  quickly) ;  pour 
a  little  of  the  paste,  when  cooled,  into  a  test  tube  and  apply  a 
few  drops  of  iodine  solution  (to  show  the  perfect  starch  reac- 
tion), and  also  likewise  test  a  little  of  the  diastase  solution 
(to  prove  it  has  no  starch).  Then  add  25  cc.  of  the  starch  paste 
to  the  diastase,  shake  quickly,  pour  a  little  of  the  mixture  into 
a  test  tube,  and  add  iodine  (to  show  that  the  mixture  gives 
the  starch  reaction).  Stand  the  diastase  in  a  warm  place  (pref- 
erably about  28°-3o°  C),  and  at  intervals  of  about  5  minutes 
pour  a  little  into  a  test  tube  and  add  iodine.  If  the  experiment 
has  been  well  performed,  the  third  or  fourth  test  will  show  no 
starch,  proving  that  it  has  been  digested  within  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes,  and  a  smaller  proportion  of  starch  will  disap- 
pear more  quickly.  If  one  wishes,  he  can  now  add  the  test 
for  grape  sugar,  proving  that  the  starch  has  been  converted 
into  that  substance,  though  this,  I  think,  is  rather  elaborate 
for  elementary  work. 


THE  dp:velopment  of  seedlings  283 

t 

V.   The  Development  of  Seedlings  into  Adult  Plants. 

16.  Study,   in  comparison  with  your  records  of  the  earlier 

stages,  the  seedhng  of  the  String  Bean, 

(i)  Into  what  has  each  part  of  the  original 
embryo  finally  developed? 

(2)  How   are   the  new   leaves   placed    relatively 

to  the  cotyledons  and  to  one  another? 

(3)  How    do    the    later   leaves    differ    from   the. 

earlier  ? 

(4)  How   many  buds   are   there,  and  where  are 

they? 

(5)  Where  does  hypocotyl  end  and  root  begin  ? 

(6)  Is  there  any  regularity  in  the  arrangement 

of  new  roots  as   there  is  of  new  leaves? 
Answer   these   questions,  and  others   henceforth,  by   the 
methods  you  consider  most   expressive. 

17.  After  the  same  manner  study  the  Horse  Bean  seed- 

ling, and  also  observe:  — 

(i)  What  is  the  position  of  the  cotyledons  as 
compared  with  the  String  Bean,  and  what 
difference  in  the  development  of  the 
hypocotyl  is  thereby  involved? 

(2)  What  do  you  imagine  is  the  reason  why 
these  cotyledons  are  not  raised  to  the  light  ? 

18.  After  the    same    manner    study    the    Morning-glory 

seedling. 


284  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Why  do  you  think  the  plumule  develops  so  late,  and 
with  what  peculiarity  of  the  cotyledons  is  this  cor- 
related ? 

19.  After    the    same    manner    study    the    Com    seed- 

ling. 
From  what  parts  do  the  upper  roots  come  ?    Have  you 
ever    noticed    anything     similar     in    adult    Com 
plants  ? 

20.  From  your  observations  deduce  and  express  the  mor- 

phological nature  of  hypocotyl,  cotyledon,  and 
plumule,  in  terms  of  root  stem  and  leaf, 

21.  Construct  a  series  of  four  generalized  diagrams  of 

the  seedlings  studied,  upon  the  same  plan,  in  the 
same  colors,  and  on  the  same  page  as  the  dia- 
grams of  the  embryos  under  Exercise  7,  express- 
ing the  comparative  morphology  of  the  four 
seedlings  in  comparison  with  one  another  and 
with  the  seeds  from  which  they  grew,  using, 
however,  the  Horse  Bean  in  place  .of  the  Horse- 
chestnut. 

22.  A  study  of  the  nature  of  the  green  color  (chlorophyl) 

of  plants. 
The  development  of  chlorophyl  in  seedlings;  extent 
of  its  presence  in  plants  generally;  mode  of 
occurrence  in  plants;  its  experimental  extraction 
and  examination,  and  the  appearance  of  the 
blanched   leaf  (Experiment    3).     Its    properties; 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   SEEDLINGS  285 

its  destruction  in  light,  and  the  relation  thereof 
to  autumn  coloration. 

Materials.  —  These  would  consist  naturally  of  seedUngs 
remaining  in  the  germination  boxes  earlier  used,  but  in  fact 
seedlings  will  not  grow  enough  farther  for  the  present  work 
in  one  week.  They  should  have  reached  a  state  where  the 
third  or  fourth  leaves  show.  Hence  it  will  be  necessary 
either  to  arrange  for  a  gap  of  a  week  or  two  at  this  point,  or 
else  to  plant  a  set  of  the  same  seeds  three  weeks  earher  than 
those  needed  for  the  preceding  work. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  is  valuable  in  part 
for  further  training  in  observation,  but  chiefly  for  the  knowl- 
edge it  gives  of  the  morphological  features  of  the  developing 
plant.  It  is,  however,  one  of  the  exercises  which  can  best  be 
spared,  because  a  part  of  its  results  can  be  brought  out  in  the 
preceding  and  succeeding  exercises. 

In  observation,  the  students  should  not  fail  to  see  and 
record,  in  addition  to  the  more  obvious  features,  the  axillary 
buds  of  the  cotyledons  in  some  kinds  of  Beans:  the  stipules  of 
the  String  Bean  (united  in  pairs  at  the  first  leaves):  the 
arrangement  of  the  earlier  roots  in  four  ranks  (answering  to 
their  origin  from  a  system  of  four  fibrovascular  bundles): 
the  aerial  roots  of  the  corn  appearing  above  the  cotyledon: 
and  the  fact  that  leaf  veins  taper  from  base  to  tip  and  are  all 
united  with  one  another.  They  should  also  find  the  position 
of  the  terminal  bud  in  the  Horse  Bean.  The  study  of  the 
leaf  arrangement  of  the  seedlings  gives  a  good  first  introduc- 
tion to  phyllotaxy. 

In  ecology,  the  students  may  be  led  to  work  out  for  them- 
selves certain  probabilities;  that  the  failure  of  the  cotyledons 


286  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

to  come  above  ground  in  two  of  the  seedlings  is  probably  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  cotyledons  are  too  thick  to  be  useful  later 
as  green  leaves,  though  in  most  cases  cotyledons  are  thus  used; 
that  the  small  supply  of  nourishment  in  the  Morning-glory 
explains  the  late  appearance  of  the  plumule,  since  the  coty- 
ledons must  first  make  food  enough  to  form  it;  and  that  the 
pecuUar  forms  of  the  first  leaves  of  most  seedlings  may  be 
due  to  their  forming  a  transition  from  cotyledons  to  ordinary 
leaves. 

Physiology.  —  The  very  fundamental  subject  of  food- 
making,  or  photosynthesis,  comes  naturally  at  this  point, 
and  in  any  case,  on  the  ground  of  logical  sequence  of  physio- 
logical processes,  belongs  early  among  the  physiological 
topics.  It  can  be  approached  very  advantageously  through 
a  study  of  chlorophyl  and  some  of  the  extremely  interesting 
phenomena  connected  therewith. 

Here,  as  always,  the  teacher  should  lead  the  students  up 
to  the  point  where  an  experiment  becomes  a  logical  necessity. 
He  should  direct  their  observation  to  the  fact  that  the  chloro- 
phyl appeared  in  the  seedlings  as  these  came  up  to  the  light, 
and  then  he  should  lead  them  to  recall  its  distribution  in 
plants  as  a  whole,  —  that  is,  the  vast  majority,  and  all  large 
plants  of  independent  Hfe,  possess  it,  while  only  parasites 
(or  saprophytes)  are  without  it.  Its  occurrence  in  the  plant 
in  grains  should  be  shown,  at  least  from  illustrations,  and  the 
question  then  is  natural  whether  it  can  be  extracted.  For 
the  experimental  test  of  this,  select  nearly  mature,  thin,  clear- 
green  leaves,  e.g.  those  of  String  Bean,  Primrose,  Castor  Bean, 
Young  Oats;  place  these  (flat  or  rolled,  not  crumpled)  in  a 
loosely  stoppered  conical  flask  or  large  test  tube,  and  cover 
them  with  alcohol  (denatured  or  other);   then  lower  the  test 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   SEEDLINGS 


287 


tube  into  a  beaker  of  water  which  has  been  brought  to  boiUng, 
first  extinguishing  the  flame  for  safety.  A  suitable  arrange- 
ment for  the  purpose,  which 
should  be  preserved  ready 
for  use  year  after  year,  is 
shown  by  Fig.  20.  The  al- 
cohol will  then  boil  almost 
immediately,  and  the  chlo- 
rophyl  will  come  out  before 
the  eyes  as  a  beautiful  rich 
clear  green  solution.  Its 
optical  properties,  including 
its  exhibition  of  remarkable 
red  lights  (fluorescence)  in 
certain  positions,  especially 
when  sunlight  is  focused 
upon  it  by  a*  lens,  may  then 
be  studied  at  leisure.  The 
chlorophyl  should  not  be  ex- 
tracted in  direct  sunlight, 
which  disintegrates  it.  It 
can  be  extracted  equally 
well,  though  much  more 
slowly,  by  simply  standing 
the  dish  in  a  warm  place,  as 
on  a  radiator,  for  some 
hours  or  over  night.  Some 
thick  leaves  do  not  release 

the  chlorophyl  readily  unless  they  have  first  been  boiled  a 
minute  or  two  in  water,  and  this  facilitates  its  exit  in  most 
leaves,  though  with  very  thin  ones  it  comes  quickly  enough 


Fig.  20.  —  EiEcient  arrangement  for 
the  extraction  of  Chlorophyl  in 
demonstration;  X  5. 

The  support  for  the  test  tube  at  top  of  the 
beaker  is  of  wire. 


288  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

without  this.  Some  leaves  of  a  marked  yellowish  cast,  e.g. 
some  Pelargoniums,  give  a  yellowish  green  solution,  and 
should  be  avoided.  If  perfectly  blanched  leaves  are  desired, 
a  larger  quantity  of  alcohol,  or  a  fresh  supply,  may  be 
needed,  and  they  blanch  rather  better  by  the  long  treatment 
on  a  radiator.  To  remove  the  brittleness  of  the  leaves,  and 
thus  prevent  breakage  in  handling,  it  is  only  necessary  to  re- 
place the  alcohol  for  a  minute  by  water. 

The  destruction  of  chlorophyl  by  light  should  next  be 
studied,  as  an  introduction  to  a  consideration  of  the  very 
important  matter  of  autumn  coloration,  which  ought  to  be 
prominent  at  this  time.  This  destruction  is  well  shov/n  by 
dividing  the  solution  between  two  test  tubes,  which  are  then 
stoppered  and  placed  side  by  side  and  treated  just  alike  in 
every  way,  except  that  one  is  exposed  to  direct  bright  sunlight 
and  the  other  is  darkened  (for  a  control);  the  green  begins 
to  change  in  a  few  minutes,  and  in  an  hour  or  two  becomes 
yellow,  which  in  time  fades  away  entirely.  This  is  exactly 
what  happens  in  autumn  leaves.  The  yellow  (xanthophyl)  is  a 
color  associated  there  with  chlorophyl,  but  disguised  by  it,  but 
it  is  far  less  destructible  by  hght.  It  can  be  extracted  by  alco- 
hol from  leaves  which  have  turned  bright  yellow  in  autumn 
(using  much  leaf  to  little  alcohol),  and  it  gives  a  solution 
very  like  that  remaining  after  the  destruction  of  the  chloro- 
phyl in  the  test  tube.  The  red  color  (erythrophyl)  in  autumn 
leaves  is  of  wholly  different  nature ;  it  is  soluble  in  water,  and 
can  easily  be  extracted  from  deep  red  autumn  leaves  in  a 
beautiful  clear  red  solution,  by  the  methods  used  for  the 
chlorophyl,  but  employing  water  instead  of  alcohol.  It  can 
also  be  extracted  easily  from  some  red-leaved  foliage  plants, 
which  are  then  shown  to  be  green.     This  matter  of  the  three 


THE   MATURE   PLANT  289 

chief  plant  colors  and  their  relation  to  the  great  phenomenon 
of  autumn  coloration,  is  of  such  interest  and  attractiveness 
that  the  teacher  will  be  wise  to  make  much  of  it. 

VI.    The  Mature  Plant 

23.  Study  the  mature  Bean  plant  in  comparison  with  your 

records   of   the   earlier  stages,   and    determine  :  — 
(i)   Has  the  mature  plant  any  parts  not  present 

in  the  seedlings? 
(2)  In  what  places,  relatively  to  leaf  and  stem, 
do  they  stand?  Remove  the  plant  from 
the  pot,  wash  a\\'ay  the  soil,  and  obser\-e 
the  external  structure  and  arrangement  of 
the  new  roots. 

24.  In  comparison  with  the  Bean,  observe  the  structure 

of   the    Coleus    and     Chrysanthemum.     Are    the 
three    plants    alike  or  different  in  regard  to  the 
following  features :  — 
(i)  Is  there    any    constant    relationship  of    po- 
sition   between    leaves    and   nodes?     Be- 
tween buds  and  leaves?  Bet^veen    flowers 
and  buds  ? 

(2)  Is  there  always  an  alternation  of  nodes  and 

intemodes?  Are  the  latter  of  any  con- 
stant length  ?  Of  any  constant  shape 
in  cross  section  ? 

(3)  Is  there   any  way  to  distinguish  between  a 
u 


290  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

simple  leaf  and  a  leaflet  of  a  compound 

leaf? 

(4)  Is  there  any  regularity  in   the  arrangement 

of  leaves  on  the  stem? 

Invent  simple  and  logical  plans  for  showing  the  leaf  ar- 
rangement in  these  three  plants. 

25.  Make  a  study  of  other  plants  exhibiting  marked  devia- 

tions from  the  common  and  typical  structure  ex- 
hibited by  the  three  already  studied. 
In  what  features,  of  those  mentioned  under  1-4  pre- 
ceding, is  each  plant  different,  and  have  you  any 
idea  of  the  possible  connection  of  the  differences 
with  the  habits  of  the  plant? 

26.  A  study  of  the  action  of  light  upon  tissues  containing 

chlorophyl. 
The  distribution  of  chlorophyl  in  the  individual 
plant,  and  its  relation  to  the  abundance  of  light: 
the  resulting  implication  as  to  a  connection  be- 
tween the  meaning  of  chlorophyl  in  the  plant's 
life  and  the  action  of  light.  Should  not,  then, 
some  difference  exist  between  chlorophyllous  tis- 
sues kept  in  light  and  dark  respectively?  Ob- 
viously this  can  be  tested  by  experiment  (Ex- 
periment 4).  Fate  of  the  starch  in  darkness: 
increase  of  weight  accompanying  starch  forma- 
tion: cases  in  which  starch  is  not  formed,  but 
other  substances:  the  basal  substance  (synthate) 
made  in  leaves  in  light,  and  its  significance. 


THE   MATURE   PLANT  291 

Materials.  —  Bush  Beans  are  very  easily  grown,  one  in  a 
pot,  and  in  a  greenhouse  may  be  brought  into  flower  and  fruit 
in  about  six  weeks.     They  are  much  better  than  Lima  and 
Horse  Beans,  which  grow  so  large  as  to  become  unmanageable. 
They   are    self-pollinating,  but    the    process  may  be    made 
more  certain  by  jarring  the  pots  sharply  on  the  table  when 
the  flowers  are  open.     Of  course  other  plants  may  be  used, 
but  the  advantage  of  following  some  one  kind  of  plant  through 
its  entire  cycle  is  very  great,  and  the  Bean  shows  a  particu- 
larly large  number  of  important  features.     One  plant  will  do 
for  several  students,  though  the  ideal  is  one  to  a  student.     As 
to  the  other  plants  needed,  those  for  direct  comparison  should 
show  a  typical  opposite  phyllotaxy  and  a  typical  spiral  on  the 
f  system,  for  which  Coleus  and  Chrysanthemum,  respectively, 
are  particularly  good.     As  to  the  other  materials,  for  Exercise 
25,  these  are  intended  to  include  representations  of  leaf  and 
stem,  which,  while  showing  extreme  modifications  of  form  and 
size,  still  retain  their  typical  functions,  or  at  least  have  no 
function  other  than  foliage.     For  this,  li\dng  plants,  which 
must  usually  be  greenhouse  plants,  are  much  the  best,  though 
herbarium    and   museum    specimens    are    also    very    useful. 
They  should  include  plants  (a)  with  very  long  internodes 
(as  in  cHmbers,  e.g.  Aristolochia  or  Dutchman's  Pipe),  and 
with  very  short  ones  (as  in  rosette  plants,  e.g.  Houseleeks 
and  Primroses);    (b)  with  flat  stems  and  visible  leaves    (e.g. 
Muehlenbeckia),  or  almost  in\dsible  leaves  (e.g.  the  florist's 
Smilax) ;   (c)  with  flattened  petioles  or  phyllodes,  as  in  Acacia 
(especially  A.  melanoxylon,  showing  all  transitions  from  phyl- 
lodes to  leaves);    (d)  with  leaves  of  extreme  forms,  or  those 
compounded  in  various  ways,  or  those  in  which  the  stipules 
become  especially  large  (e.g.  Lathyrus  Aphaca),  or    unifolio- 


292  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

late  or  connate-perfoliate  leaves;  while  finally  Colletia, 
Ruscus,  Ilex,  and  some  other  odd  foims  found  in  most  green- 
houses are  also  very  useful. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  is  designed  to  give 
knowledge  of  the  composition  of  a  typical  adult  plant,  includ- 
ing especially  the  principal  systems  of  leaf  arrangement  (or 
phyllotaxy),  and  the  plasticity  of  the  parts  in  size  and  form 
while  retaining  their  functions  and  mutual  relationships  of 
position. 

In  the  adult  plant,  if  it  be  a  Bean,  the  students,  as  a  matter 
of  observation,  should  not  miss  the  pulvinus  of  the  leaves, 
nor  the  stipels,  nor  the  nodules  on  the  roots,  nor  the  calyx 
and  bracts  on  the  fruit ;  and  of  course  they  will  determine  that 
the  flowers  stand  in  the  positions  of  buds.  Then  by  com- 
parison with  the  other  plants  they  can  be  led  to  see  that  under 
marked  difference  of  appearance  certain  features  are  common 
to  them  all,  viz.  the  stem  is  made  up  of  nodes,  places  where 
the  leaves  stand  in  regular  order,  separated  by  leafless  inter- 
nodes;  buds  appear  in  leaf  axils  or  at  the  tip  of  the  stems; 
and  roots  are  ordinarily  single  irregularly  branching  struc- 
tures. Their  understanding  of  the  matters  will  be  greatly 
aided  if  the  teacher  will  give  an  illustrated  account  of  the  way 
new  leaves  and  stems  develop  from  buds;  and,  of  course,  he  will 
avoid  the  idea  of  the  phytomer,  which  is  quite  erroneous,  as 
earlier  explained  (p.  232).  It  is  not  desirable  to  go  very 
far  into  the  matter  of  phyllotaxy,  but  the  students  should 
be  led  to  understand  the  opposite  and  spiral  systems,  and  the 
mode  of  expressing  the  latter  in  fractions;  and  their  attention 
should  be  called  to  the  obvious  regularity  of  arrangement  in 
rosettes,  cones,  etc.  They  should  be  aided  to  form  diagrams 
exhibiting  the  different  systems,  which  are  best  expressed  by 


THE   MATURE   PLANT  293 

marks,  indicating  the  places  of  the  leaves,  arranged  on 
circles  or  spirals,  as  if  the  plant  were  viewed  from  above. 

The  systems  of  phyllotaxy  described  in  the  books  and 
expressed  by  fractions  do  certainly  exist,  and  may  be  traced; 
but  the  teacher  should  carefully  avoid  leading  the  pupils  to 
imagine  they  find  exact  fractions  which  theoretically  ought 
to  be  present,  when  in  fact  they  are  not ;  for  the  systems  are 
very  easily  thrown  out  by  twisting  of  the  stem  in  growth,  or 
by  injuries.  Of  course,  the  phyllota.xy  has  very  little  to  do 
with  the  ultimate  position  of  the  blade;  it  holds  true  only  for 
the  origin  of  the  leaves  in  the  bud,  and  its  significance  is  still 
obscure. 

The  work  -s\ith  the  special  plants  is  very  important,  since 
it  serves  to  show  how  widely  the  parts  of  the  plant  may  vary 
in  form  and  yet  retain  ail  their  old  mutual  relations  of  position. 
This  work  can  be  made  of  very  great  interest  to  the  students, 
since  it  exercises  some  of  the  same  quaUties  which  find  plea- 
sure in  the  solution  of  puzzles;  while  it  certainly  is  of  great 
scientific  value  as  typical  work  in  morphology.  A  good 
conception  to  bring  before  the  students  after  this  study 
is  this,  —  to  lead  them  to  \-isualize  or  imagine  every  part  of 
the  plant  as  well-nigh  indefinitely  elastic  or  plastic,  as  if  the 
plant  were  made  of  the  most  elastic  rubber,  so  that  any  part 
may  be  drawn  out  or  reduced  indefinitely  and  altered  greatly 
in  shape,  while  all  parts  still  retain,  unchanged,  their  old  rela- 
tionships to  one  another.  The  readiness  with  which  the  stem 
assumes  the  leaf  function  shows  how  closely  related  these  are, 
and  illustrates  the  table  of  morphological  independence  given 
earher,  at  page  234,  in  this  book.  As  regards  the  explanation 
of  these  differences  of  form,  in  connection  with  the  difTerent 
habits  of  the  plants,  the  students  can  do  Httle  of  themselves, 


294 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


though  it  is  well  to  have  them  ask  the  questions.  Then  the 
teacher,  in  the  demonstrations,  should  supply  the  account  of 
the  correlation  between  habits  and  form.      . 

Physiology.  —  This  is  the  appropriate  place  for  a  beginning 
of  the  study  of  the  most  fundamental  of  the  physiological 
processes  of  the  plant,  food  making  or  photosynthesis  (for- 
merly called  carbon  assimilation).     As  introductory  to  the 
experiment,  it  is  particularly  important  tha,t  the  students  be 
led  to  observe  or  recall  for  themselves  the  fact  that  chlorophyl, 
in  the  plants  they  are  now  studying,  is  confined  to  lighted 
parts,  and,  moreover,  is  condensed  towards  the  best  lighted 
surfaces  (the  upper  surfaces  of  most  leaves  are  a  denser  green 
than  the  under),  while,  furthermore,  most  plants  turn  their 
green  parts  towards  the  light.     This  all  impUes  a  close  connec- 
tion between  the  work  of  chlorophyl  and  the  action  of  light, 
which  in  turn  suggests  that  some  difference  ought  to  develop 
between  green  tissues  kept  respectively  in  and  away  from 
light.     This  leads  logically  to  Experiment    4,  which  is  per- 
formed   thus:    Select   a    thin-leaved   plant    {e.g.   Horseshoe 
Geranium,  Fuchsia,  German  Ivy,  String  Bean),  and  keep  it 
over  a  day  in  a  warm  dark  place  (to  empty  its  leaves   of 
starch).     Then  darken  a  part  of  a  nearly  mature  leaf  by  a 
normal  light  screen,  \dz.  one  which  will   cause  areas  to  con- 
trast in  exposure  to  hght  and  dark,  while  otherwise  treated 
alike  and  in  such  manner  that  the   under  surfaces  are  left 
free  for  the  entrance  and  exit  of  gases.     Stand  the  plant  in  a 
moderately  warm  place  in  bright  diffused  light  (not   strong 
sunlight),  for  two  or  three  hours  (a  shorter  time  in  summer, 
longer  in  \\inter).     Then  remove  the  leaf,  boil  it  for  a  minute 
in  water  (to  swell  the  starch  and  make  this  more  distinctly 
visible),  blanch  it  of  chlorophyl  by  one  of  the  methods  earlier 


THE   MATURE   PLANT 


295 


used,  remove  its  brittleness  by  use  of  water,  place  it  in  a  white 
dish  (ordinary  saucer  or  plate),  and  cover  it  with  iodine  solu- 
tion. Then  the  areas  containing  starch,  which  will  be  those 
exposed  to  the  light,  will  stand  out  in  blue  against  the  white  of 
the  starchless  darkened  areas. 

This  experiment  is  so  striking  and  important  that  it  should 
always  be  included  in  every  botanical  course.  It  can  be  varied 
in  numerous  ways. 
The  best  normal 
light  screen  known 
to  me  is  a  piece  of 
tin  foil  cut  with  a 
pattern  and  then 
attached  to  a  glass, 
which  is  pressed 
against  the  upper 
surface  of  the  leaf, 
tin  foil  down;  the 
lower  side  of  the 
leaf  is  darkened  by 
a  small  box,  black 
inside,  and  provided  with  a  network  of  threads  to  hold 
the  leaf  against  the  tin  foil,  while  air  is  admitted  through 
small  holes  guarded  inside  by  flaps  to  prevent  entrance  of 
hght.  Screen  and  box  may  conveniently  be  joined  into  one 
piece  by  a  spring  wire  which  clamps  them  over  the  leaf. 
Such  a  screen,  illustrated  in  Fig.  21,  is  obtainable  at  moder- 
ate cost  among  my  normal  apparatus  (mentioned  on  page 
135),  while  a  very  much  larger  form  adapted  to  take  an  entire 
leaf,  for  more  striking  results,  is  obtainable  in  the  same  appa- 
ratus.    The  use  of  two  corks,  matching  on  the  two  sides  of  the 


Fig.  21.  —  Simple  Normal  Light  Screen;  X  J. 


296  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

leaf,  as  illustrated  in  many  books,  is  wholly  wrong,  for  the 
exclusion  of  carbon  dioxide  by  the  cork  will  result  in  absence 
of  starch  whether  light  is  present  or  absent,  and  this  is  true 
of  any  method  which  cuts  off  the  carbon  dioxide  supply. 
The  plant  must  not  be  allowed  to  become  heated  much  above 
22°  C,  for  then  the  starch  is  removed  as  fast  as  formed,  and 
no  good  result  is  yielded  by  the  iodine  test.  The  iodine  solu- 
tion is  made  thus:  Dissolve  5  grams  of  potassium  iodide  in 
50  cc.  of  water,  add  i  gram  of  solid  iodine,  and  when  all  is 
dissolved,  pour  into  i  liter  of  water;  the  mixture,  tightly  stop- 
pered, is  a  stock  supply.  This  is  an  economical  solution, 
and  can  be  made  stronger  in  both  chemicals  for  quicker 
results.  Or,  one  can  use  ordinary  tincture  of  iodine  diluted 
with  about  20  times  its  bulk  of  water.  Very  sharp,  clear 
transitions  between  starch-holding  and  starch-free  areas,  can 
be  obtained  with  tin-foil  screens.  Indeed,  so  sensitively  does 
starch  formation  respond  to  light  that  one  can  use  a  photo- 
graphic negative  to  print  in  the  leaf  a  positive  in  starch  which 
may  be  "  developed  "  by  iodine.  For  satisfactory  results 
with  this  striking  experiment,  the  leaf  must  be  held  flat 
against  the  negative  (which  should  have  as  much  contrast 
as  possible),  for  which  purpose  the  larger  light  screen  above 
mentioned  is  especially  effective,  though  one  can  also  use  a 
small  negative,  or  even  film,  with  the  smaller  light  screen.  A 
very  thorough  study,  showing  the  best  plants  for  this  experi- 
ment, the  best  length  of  time  to  keep  each  in  darkness  before- 
hand and  in  light  with  the  screens,  with  other  suggestions  and 
precautions,  is  given  by  Sophia  Eckerson  in  the  Botanical 
Gazette,  48,  1909,  224. 

The  blue  color  of  the  iodine  starch  soon  fades  from  the  leaves, 
but  they  can  be  preserved  indefinitely  in  fifty  per  cent  alcohol, 


MORPHOLOGY   AND    ECOLOGY   OF   WINTER    BUDS      297 

and  the  color  may  be  restored  at  any  time,  with  all  its  first 
distinctness,  by  new  applications  of  iodine.  Moreover  the 
color  can  be  made  to  fade  very  rapidly,  thus  preparing  the 
leaves  for  a  second  demonstration,  by  placing  them  for  a  time 
in  strong  alcohol.  In  continuation  of  the  experiment,  the 
teacher  should  then  explain  that  the  starch  is  removed  from 
the  leaves  into  the  stems  in  darkness  (and  in  Ught  also,  but 
less  rapidly  than  it  is  formed),  and  that  leaves  increase  in 
weight  in  light,  and  lessen  in  weight  in  darkness.  He  may 
also,  to  advantage,  explain  how  this  latter  matter  is  con- 
clusively and  beautifully  proven  by  methods  described  in  the 
books  devoted  especially  to  physiological  experiment.  He 
should  also  state  the  fact  that  in  some  leaves  it  is  not  starch, 
but  grape  sugar  (and  rarely  cane  sugar),  which  is  formed  in 
Ught,  while  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  grape  sugar 
is  first  formed  in  all  leaves,  being  converted  at  once  into 
starch  in  the  majority.  Grape  sugar,  therefore,  is  the  basal 
substance  formed  imder  action  of  light  in  green  tissues. 
Now  it  is  from  this  grape  sugar  that  all  the  other  food  sub- 
stances of  the  plant  are  formed,  mostly  by  comparatively 
simple  changes,  so  that  the  grape  sugar  made  under  action  of 
Hght  in  leaves  is  the  basal  plant  food.  And,  since  animals 
take  all  of  their  food,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  plants,  it  is 
the  basal  food  for  animals  also. 

VII.   The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Winter  Buds 

27.  Study  the  Horse-chestnut  twigs,  particularly  the 
buds.  Recall  your  knowledge  of  how  the  buds 
of  this  tree  develop  in  the   spring. 

(i)  What  different  kinds  of  markings  does  the 


298  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

twig   show,  and  what  do  you  suppose  is 
the  meaning  of  each? 

(2)  What    positions  have  the  buds    in    relation 

to  any  other  structures  ? 

(3)  What  sizes  and  shapes  have  the  buds,  and 

can  you  imagine  a  reason  for  the  differ- 
ences ? 

(4)  Wliat  colors   have    the    buds,  and    do   you 

see  any  reason  therefor? 

(5)  What  is  the  exact  structure  of  the  buds, 

and  the  morphological  nature  and    prob- 
able function  of  each  part  ? 

(6)  What  features  of   the    buds    appear   to    be 

adaptive  to  their  protection  over  winter? 

(7)  Is  there  any  evidence   to    show   the   age  of 

the  twig? 

28.  Study  similarly  the  Tulip-tree  twig. 

29.  Study  also  the  other  twigs  supplied. 

Outside  of  the  laboratory,  examine  as  large  a  series 
of  twigs  and  buds  as  possible. 

30.  A  study  of  the  source  of  the  materials  used  in  food 

making. 
Chemical  composition  of  the  basal  substance  formed 
in  light :  suggestions  therefrom  as  to  the  probable 
source  of  the  hydrogen  and  oxygen,  and  the  known 
facts ;  possibilities  as  to  the  source  of  the  carbon ; 
evidence  that  it  is  not  derived  from  the  soil.     Does 


MORPHOLOGY   AND   ECOLOGY   OF   WINTER   BUDS      299 

it  then  come  from  the  atmosphere?  This  can 
be  tested  by  experiment  (Experiment  5).  The 
formation  of  food  (synthesis)  under  action  of  light 
(photosynthesis) . 

Materials.  —  These  should  be  obtainable  everywhere. 
The  Horse-chestnut  is  best,  but  any  others  \nth  very  large 
terminal  buds,  especially  if  containing  a  flower  cluster  {e.g. 
Walnut,  Hickory),  are  nearly  as  good.  The  bud  scales  of  the 
Tuhp  tree  are  modified  stipules,  and  afford  an  exceptionally 
good  morphological  problem  which  the  student  can  have 
the  pleasure  of  solving  for  himself;  the  same  feature  occurs  in 
the  Magnolia,  and  also  in  Beech,  though  less  plainly.  Other 
very  useful  buds  are  Lilac  and  Norway  Maple.  Some  un- 
protected buds  of  greenhouse  plants  are  very  desirable  for 
comparison. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  is  one  of  the  most  satis- 
factory of  all  botanical  exercises.  The  objects  are  large  and 
fairly  definite,  and  the  student  has  data  enough  to  enable  him 
to  discover  for  himself  the  meaning  of  nearly  every  feature 
of  morphology  and  adaptation,  for  training  in  both  of  which 
it  is  particularly  favorable.  It  is  important  to  recall  to  the 
students  the  general  habit  and  mode  of  growth  of  the  Horse- 
chestnut,  helping  by  suggestions  when  memory  fails,  and 
leading  one  member  of  the  class  to  aid  another,  imtil  it  has 
been  well  worked  out.  Of  course  the  significance  of  winter 
buds,  as  existent  solely  because  the  winter  stops  growth,  vnll 
be  made  plain. 

The  features  which  the  students  should  work  out  fully  for 
themselves  are  the  lenticels  (whose  function  as  openings, 
allowing  admission  and  exit  of  air,  will  need  to  be  explained 


300  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

to  them,  after  they  have  tried  to  think  of  a  use);  the  leaf 
scars,  with  fibrovascular  bundles  showing  in  number  an- 
swering to  the  number  of  the  leaflets;  rings  of  scars  of  the  bud 
scales;  and  the  scars  of  fallen  flower  clusters.  They  should 
work  out  the  age  of  the  twig  from  the  transitions  between 
different  colors  of  bark,  and  from  the  old  sets  of  bud-scale 
scars,  and  should  determine  that  the  buds  are  both  axillary 
and  terminal.  They  should  notice  that  the  largest  of  the 
buds  are  nearest  the  tips,  and  should  conclude  that  these 
are  probably  the  ones  which  will  develop,  being  in  the  places 
where  light  and  space  are  most  abundant,  while  the  smaller 
and  more  remote  remain  latent  and  serve  as  a  reserve.  The 
color  of  the  buds  is  simply  that  of  the  bark,  which,  the  teacher 
can  explain  after  the  students  have  considered  the  matter, 
is  simply  the  composition  color  of  corky  substance  and  has  no 
known  use.  The  structure  and  morphology  of  the  bud  parts 
they  should  now  be  able  to  work  out  and  represent  accurately 
and  completely,  including  the  place  of  origin  of  the  wool ;  and 
they  will  probably  explain  correctly  the  function  of  the 
different  parts  pecuHar  to  these  buds,  —  the  outer  scales, 
sometimes  with  additional  resin,  etc.,  as  a  waterproofing 
adaptation,  and  the  wool  as  tempering  abrupt  changes  of  tem- 
perature. The  shapes  of  the  buds  have  no  known  meaning 
in  particular  —  they  are  simply  the  passive  result  of  the  forms, 
numbers,  and  sizes  of  the  parts  inclosed  within  them. 

Physiology.  —  This  involves  a  continuation  of  the  study  of 
photosynthesis.  The  teacher  should  explain  the  chemical 
composition  of  the  basal  grape  sugar  (CoHisOg),  of  starch 
(CtiHioO^),  and  of  cane  sugar  (CioHooOu),  and  should  show 
their  simple  interrelationships  of  proportion  in  connection 
with  the  proportions   of    water    (HoO).      Then   he   should 


MORPHOLOGY   AND   ECOLOGY   OF   WINTER   BUDS      30I 

lead  the  students  to  see  that  the  proportions  of  the  hy- 
drogen and  oxygen  in  these  substances  suggest  a  probabil- 
ity that  these  elements  are  derived  from  water,  of  which 
plenty  is  absorbed  from  the  soil ;  and  he  should  explain 
that  this  in  fact  has  been  proven  to  be  correct,  though  by 
methods  too  complicated  for  demonstration  in  this  course. 
Then  as  to  the  carbon,  they  should  be  led  to  notice  that  it  can 
come  only  from  soil  or  air,  and  the  method  of  water  culture, 
whereby  plants  can  be  grown  in  water  containing  no  carbon  at 
all,  can  be  described  to  show  that  the  carbon  does  not  come 
from  the  soil.  This  seems  to  leave  only  the  atmosphere,  in 
which  it  is  present  in  very  small  quantity  as  carbon  dioxide, 
which  makes  about  .03  per  cent  (3  parts  in  10,000)  of  the  total 
bulk  of  the  air.  This  should  bring  the  students  to  face  the 
question,  whether  plants  can  make  use  of  the  atmospheric 
carbon  dioxide  in  starch  making,  a  problem  which  can  be 
solved  experimentally  thus.  Prepare  two  large  clear  glass 
bottles,  the  larger  the  better,  but  of  at  least  a  gallon  ca- 
pacity, with  air-tight,  preferably  rubber,  stoppers.  On  the 
bottom  of  one  place  a  covering  of  a  strong  absorbent  of  carbon 
dioxide,  e.g.  solution  of  caustic  potash  of  about  ten  per  cent 
strength,  and  on  the  bottom  of  the  other,  for  a  control,  a  cov- 
ering of  a  mechanically  similar  but  non-absorbing  substance, 
e.g.  water.  (Theoretically  water  is  also  an  absorber  of  car- 
bon dioxide,  but  water  drawn  from  a  tap  or  other  ordinary 
supply  contains  all  of  that  gas  it  can  absorb  from  the  atmos- 
phere. As  it  may  give  up  part  of  this  quantity  to  the  air 
during  the  experiment,  a  new  supply  should  be  introduced 
each  time  the  jar  is  used.)  From  a  vigorous  thin-leaved 
plant,  kept  over  a  day  in  darkness  (to  empty  it  of  starch), 
take  two  similar  small  leaves  and  suspend  them  in  the  middle 


302 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


of  the  bottles  with  their  petioles  through  the  stoppers  of  vials 
held  in  position  by  wires  hung  from  screw  eyes  in  the  bottle 
stoppers.     The    arrangement   is   shown    in    Fig.  22.     Stand 

the  bottles  for  a  few  hours 
in  a  bright  diffused  light 
at  a  temperature  of  about 
2o°-2  2  ° .  Then  remove  and 
blanch  the  leaves  and  apply 
the  iodine  test,  when,  if  the 
experiment  has  been  cor- 
rectly performed,  the  leaf 
which  has  been  in  the  cham- 
ber deprived  of  carbon  di- 
oxide will  remain  white, 
while  that  from  the  cham- 
ber containing  the  carbon 
dioxide  will  become  deep 
blue.  The  bottles,  once  ob- 
tained, should  be  reserved 
exclusively  for  this  experi- 
ment, and  if  kept  tightly 
stoppered,  should  always  be 
ready  for  immediate  use, 
without  the  need  for  renew- 

FlG.  22.— Arrangement  for  demon'^trat-     ing    the    CaUStic    potash    for 

ing  the  use  of  atmospheric  carbon    several  years.     It  is  advis- 

dioxide  in  Photosjmthesis ;  X  J. 

able  also  to  take  leaves 
from  the  plant  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  experiment, 
keeping  the  former  in  water  beside  the  jars,  and  then  to 
test  them  for  starch  with  those  in  the  jar,  as  an  extra  con- 
trol for  the  condition  of  the  plant  itself. 


ECOLOGY   OF   LEAVES,    STEMS,    AND    ROOTS       303 

For  success  in  this  experiment,  it  is  essential  that  the  leaves 
be  small  in  comparison  with  the  size  of  the  chambers,  since 
otherwise  there  will  not  be  enough  carbon  dioxide  available 
in  the  control  jar  to  permit  the  formation  of  a  visible  amount 
of  starch.  The  experiment,  often  recommended,  in  which 
whole  plants,  or  large  parts  of  them,  are  placed  in  bell-jars, 
which  are  arranged  to  have  communication  with  the  air  out- 
side through  openings  guarded  by  the  absorbing  and  control 
substance,  though  correct  in  theory,  is  fallacious  in  practice, 
since  the  admission  of  fresh  carbon  dioxide  into  the  control  jar 
is  rendered  so  slow  as  to  be  practically  impossible,  and  the 
supply  in  the  chamber  is  exhausted  at  once.  Instead  of  the 
large  bottles  one  may  use  large  bell-jars  sealed  by  wax,  or 
modeler's  clay,  to  ground-glass  plates,  the  caustic  potash  and 
water  being  placed  in  saucers  and  the  leaves  as  before  in  vials ; 
but  this  method  is  less  convenient  than  the  former.  Or,  one 
may  use  soda  lime  and  powdered  chalk  as  the  absorbing  and 
control  substances,  but  I  find  that  the  use  of  the  former  tends 
to  injure  some  leaves,  probably  because  of  the  dryness  it  also 
introduces.  Another  way,  very  effective  in  that  both  ex- 
periment and  control  are  on  a  single  large  leaf  which  remains 
attached  to  the  plant,  consists  in  sealing  two  parts  of  the  leaf 
over  the  necks  of  two  special  bottles  which  replace  the  larger 
bottles  of  Experiment  5;  full  directions  for  this  method  are 
given  in  my  Laboratory  Course  in  Plant  Physiology. 

VIII.    The  Special  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Leaves, 

Stems,  and  Roots 

31.  In  the  ten  plants  selected,  what  is  the  exact  mor- 
phology and  probable  ecology  of  the  specialized 
structures  they  show? 


304  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

In  each  case  your  record  should  bring   out    clearly 

(a)  The    evidence    which    proves    their    mor- 

phology. 

(b)  Reasons  for  your  view  of  their  ecology. 
The  drawings  need  not  include   the   entire  plants,   hut 

only  the  special  structures  and  their  connection  with 
other  parts. 

32.  In  a  sentence  explain  the  idea  you  attach  to  the  word 
"morphology";  also  to  ''ecology";  and  state 
your  idea  of  the  exact  relationship  between 
them. 

T,T,.  A  study  of  the  release  of  oxygen  in  photosynthesis. 

Inspection  of  the  formula  of  the  photosynthate  with 
reference  to  its  composition  from  water  and 
carbon  dioxide.  The  resultant  implication  that 
oxygen  is  released,  which  can  be  tested  by  experi- 
ment (Experiment  6) .  Relation  of  the  volumes  of 
carbon  dioxide  and  oxygen  concerned.  The  com- 
plete photosynthetic  equation. 
The  part  played  by  light  in  the  process,  the  part  by 
chlorophyl.  Importance  of  the  process  as  origin 
of  both  plant  and  animal  food.  Summary  state- 
ment of  Photosvnthesis. 

Materials.  —  These  should  be  such  as  show  the  leaf,  stem, 
or  root  modified  more  than  in  the  preceding  exercise,  to  such 
a  degree,  indeed,  that  they  are  metamorphosed  into  new  organs 
carrying  on  new  functions,  and  therefore  are  so  altered  in 


ECOLOGY   OF   LEAVES,    STEMS,    AND    ROOTS       305 

shape,  size,  color,  and  texture  as  to  conceal  completely  their 
original  nature.  Hence  the  materials  should  include  plants 
possessing  spines,  tendrils,  pitchers,  tubers,  aerial  roots,  and 
other  specialized  structures,  of  which  there  is  a  most  satis- 
factory treatment  in  Chapter  III  of  Gray's  Structural  Botany. 
The  best  source  for  such  materials  is  an  educational  green- 
house specially  cultivating  plants  of  morphological  interest. 
Next  in  value  come  specimens  from  the  museum  collection 
or  herbarium,  on  which  comments  have  been  made  earlier 
in  this  book  (p.  158).  Of  course  many  plants  of  the  native 
flora  are  admirable  for  this  study  if  collected  in  season  and 
suitably  preserved.  Supplementary  to  the  plant  material 
one  can  make  good  use  of  the  many  admirable  pictures  in 
Kerner  and  Oliver's  Natural  History  of  Plants,  and  in 
Schimper's  Plant  Geography. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  is  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able, and  to  students  one  of  the  most  interesting,  of  all 
exercises;  and  there  is  nothing  better  for  training  in  correct 
conceptions  of  morphology  and  ecology. 

The  students  should  be  able  in  nearly  all  cases,  using  rela- 
tive position  as  the  guide,  to  work  out  with  certainty  the 
exact  morphological  origin  of  each  part,  whether  metamor- 
phosed from  a  root,  stem,  or  leaf.  Some  of  the  special  struc- 
tures, e.g.  thorns  of  roses,  originate  as  special  outgrowths 
or  emergences  of  the  epidermis  and  cortex,  and  they  may  be 
recognized  by  their  irregularity  of  position.  In  practice  all 
the  special  structures  may  be  traced  back  to  an  origin  in  root, 
stem,  leaf  (with  its  parts,  blade,  petiole,  and  stipules),  or 
emergence.  But  it  should  be  made  plain  that  these  parts 
are  not  themselves  of  equal  rank,  nor  are  they  irresolvable 
elements,  but  simply  adaptive  structures,  traceable  back  to 


3o6  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

still  simpler  origins  in  the  thallus,  as  has  been  noted  more 
fully  on  page  27,t,  of  this  book. 

The  students  will  soon  learn  how  little  the  shape,  size, 
color,  etc.,  of  organs  has  to  do  with  their  morphology.  Of 
course  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  morphology  involves  an 
understanding  of  the  exact  steps  by  which  the  new  organ  has 
been  formed,  i.e.  in  the  case  of  a  pitcher,  whether  the  leaf  has 
infolded  and  united  its  edges  to  form  the  cup,  or  (as  is  ac- 
tually the  case)  whether  it  has  grown  up  as  a  cup  from  the 
start.  It  will  be  well  for  the  teacher  to  have  some  one  or  two 
series  of  specimens  illustrating  all  the  intermediate  stages  of 
a  particular  structure,  such,  for  example,  as  a  Barberry  spine. 
In  some  cases  the  student  will  be  able  to  imagine  what  the  inter- 
mediate steps  must  have  been;  but  in  others  this  is  impos- 
sible without  a  study  of  embryology,  and  here  (as  in  the  case 
of  pitchers,  for  instance)  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  teacher 
to  supply  information,  which  students  wall  be  prepared  to 
appreciate  and  utilize  after  their  minds  have  once  been  at 
work  upon  the  problem.  On  the  ecological  meaning  of  the 
structures,  they  can,  of  course,  do  little  more  than  guess.  It 
is  just  here  that  outdoor  study  of  native  plants  through 
field  excursions  is  so  valuable.  However,  in  ordinary  temperate 
climates,  ecological  adaptations  are  so  much  less  marked  than 
in  tropical  and  desert  plants,  that  it  is  necessary  to  make  use  of 
some  of  the  latter  in  order  to  give  anything  like  an  adequate 
view  of  the  subject.  The  teacher  must  then  supply  data  as 
to  their  habits,  describing  the  conditions  of  the  desert,  the 
tropical  jungles,  etc.,  illustrating  by  photographs  as  fully  as 
possible.  The  teacher  must  carefully  guard  against  dogma- 
tism in  ecology ;  at  the  best  this  division  of  the  science  is  still 
in  a  very  new  and  undifferentiated  state,  while  even  among 


ECOLOGY   OF   LEAVES,    STEMS,    AND    ROOTS       307 

specialists  much  of  it  is  but  guesswork.  A  complete  study  of 
this  subject  would  involve  also  an  examination  of  the  texture 
or  tissues  of  the  parts ;  for  adaptation  shows  itself  in  the  in- 
ternal anatomy,  in  the  suppression  of  some  tissues  and  exces- 
sive development  of  others,  as  well  as  in  external  features. 
But  this  work  is  hardly  practicable  in  a  general  course,  except 
through  demonstration  and  reading. 

In  this  connection  the  teacher  will  find  it  advantageous  to 
give  a  fully  illustrated  account  of  the  very  important  and 
interesting  subject  of  the  ecological  groups  of  plants,  which 
groups  may  most  simply  be  classified  thus:  — 

A.  Groups  showing  special  adaptations  to  physical  condi- 

tions. 

1.  Mesophytes,  or  Plants  of  optimum  conditions. 

2.  Xerophytes,  Desert  Plants. 

3.  Halophytes,  Strand  Plants. 

4.  Hydrophytes,  Water  Plants. 

B.  Groups  sho\nng  special  adaptations  to  other  organisms. 

1.  Climbers.  4.   Insectivora. 

2.  Epiphytes.  5.    Myrmecophila. 

3.  Saprophytes  and  Parasites.    6.    Symbionta. 
Physiology.  —  It  is  needful  to  complete  the  photosynthetic 

study.  The  final  part  of  the  subject  may  be  treated  very 
logically  and  clearly  thus:  If  the  teacher  will  bring  up  again 
the  formula  of  the  synthate,  and  ha^•e  the  students  set  it  down 
in  comparison  ^^•ith  that  of  the  substances  from  which  its 
constituents  are  derived,  thus,  CO2  +  HoO  =  CeHioOe,  and 
then,  after  explaining  to  them  the  nature  of  a  chemical  equa- 
tion, make  them  figure  the  quantities  necessary  for  the  equa- 
tion to  balance,  they  will  themselves  derive  this  equation. 
6  CO'  +  6  H-0  -  CfiHiiOe  +  6  0,.    This  implies  that  oxygen 


3o8 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


is  released  in  this  process,  which  important  conclusion  needs 
test  by  experiment.  Although  it  can  be  tested  perfectly  by 
somewhat  elaborate  methods,  there  is  no  simple  way  that  is 
wholly  satisfactory.  The  most  used  of  the  methods  is  this: 
If  one  gathers  a  number  of  shoots  of  some  plant  growing 

under  water,  e.g.  Cabomba, 
I 

il:: 


I 


f 


Elodea,  Ceratophyllum,  and 
places  the  cut  ends  in  an  in- 
verted water- filled  test  tube, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  23,  and 
leaves  it  some  hours  in 
light,  a  gas  will  rise  from 
the  stems  and  displace  the 
water,  finally  filling  the  tube. 
Or,  if  the  plant  is  one  which 
does  not  give  off  the  gas 
from  the  cut  ends  of  the 
stems,  one  can  place  the 
plants  under  an  inverted 
funnel  which  leads  into  a 
test  tube  of'  water,  though 
care  must  be  taken  to  use 
a  very  large  dish  in  order 
to  give  plenty  of  surface  for  access  of  fresh  carbon  dioxide 
from  the  air;  and  it  is  in  any  case  a  decided  advantage 
to  add  some  carbon  dioxide  to  the  water  from  time  to  time 
from  a  generator.  Theoretically  the  gas  thus  released  is 
chiefly  oxygen,  though  in  fact  it  contains  also  much  nitrogen 
and  carbon  dioxide.  If  the  weather  is  bright  and  the  plants 
very  vigorous,  the  oxygen  may  be  abundant  enough  to  ignite 
a  glowing  spUnter  thrust  into  it  when  the  tube  is  inverted, 


Fig.  23. — Arrangement  for  study  of  re- 
lease of  oxygen  in  Photosynthesis ;  X  {. 


ECOLOGY   OF   LEAVES,    STEMS,    AND    ROOTS       309 

but  frequently  this  does  not  occur.  It  is  sometimes  said  in 
books  that  leaves  of  land  plants  can  be  used  in  this  experi- 
ment, but  that  is  wholly  an  error,  for  the  gas  such  leaves 
seem  to  give  off  is  only  air  dissolved  in  water  and  collected 
upon  them.  The  most  accurate  method  by  far  lies  in  the 
use  of  a  phytosynthometer,  which  not  only  permits  a  com- 
plete demonstration  that  oxygen  is  released  in  photosyn- 
thesis, but  also  proves  another  important  matter  indicated 
by  the  equation;  namely,  that  the  carbon  dioxide  absorbed 
and  oxygen  released  are  equal  in  number  of  molecules,  and 
therefore  in  volume.  I  shall  not  attempt  here  to  give  the 
rather  lengthy  directions  for  the  use  of  this  instrument,  since 
the  teacher  likely  to  use  it  will  probably  have  available  my 
work  on  Plant  Physiology  in  which  it  is  fully  described.  By 
this  method  the  photosynthetic  equation  can  be  fully  demon- 
strated, and  in  any  case  the  student  should  be  made  to  fix  it  in 
his  memory.  It  will  be  of  interest  for  him  to  know  also  the 
approximate  amount  of  the  gases  involved.  A  square  meter 
of  leaf  surface  in  an  hour  of  bright  daylight  absorbs  from  the 
air  about  750  cc,  that  is,  f  of  a  liter  of  pure  carbon  dioxide, 
and  gives  off  into  the  air  the  same  amount  of  pure  oxygen. 
This  is  equal  approximately  to  f  of  a  quart  absorbed  and 
given  off  by  a  square  yard  of  leaf. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  part  of  light  and  chlorophyl  in 
photosynthesis.  It  should  be  explained  that  the  spHtting 
apart  of  the  carbon  dioxide,  a  necessary  preliminary  to  the 
formation  of  the  sugar,  is  a  difficult  process  requiring  much 
energy,  because  the  carbon  and  oxygen  have  an  extremely 
strong  affinity  for  one  another ;  and  it  is  known  that  light 
supplies  the  energy  capable  of  doing  that  particular  kind  of 
work.    Now,  not  all  of  the  light  has  the  power  of  doing  this 


3IO  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

work,  but,  as  shown  by  experiment,  only  certain  ones  of  its 
many  rays,  especially  the  red.  The  spectroscope  applied 
to  a  solution  of  chlorophyl  shows  that  it  is  precisely  these 
rays  which  chlorophyl  stops,  while  the  useless  rays,  espe- 
cially the  green  and  yellow,  are  allowed  to  pass  on;  and  it 
is  these  which  come  to  our  eyes  and  make  chlorophyl  appear 
its  characteristic  yellowish  green.  All  the  evidence  shows 
that  chlorophyl  is  a  substance  which  has  the  power  of  stop- 
ping and  applying  these  rays  of  Hght  capable  of  splitting 
carbon  dioxide.  This  subject  can  be  beautifully  illustrated 
by  the  use  of  the  spectroscope,  but  probably  most  teachers 
v\all  think  this  too  special  an  instrument  for  introduction 
into  a  general  course.  If,  however,  one  \nshes  to  employ  it, 
he  can  find  full  directions,  with  an  account  of  a  simple  form 
especially  adapted  thereto,  in  my  book  on  Plant  Physiology. 
Finally  the  teacher  should  review  the  process  in  full,  and 
should  emphasize  it  strongly  as  the  source  of  all  food,  both 
of  plants  and  of  animals,  inclusive  of  man. 

IX.    The  Tissue  Systems  (or  Anatomy)  of  Plants 

34.  In  the  Balsam,  after  observing  the  features  of  the 
external  structure,  study  carefully  the  tissue  sys- 
tems of  the  shoot  and  root. 

All  of  these  systems  are  to  be  worked  out  with  simple 
lens  and  scalpel. 

I.  The    epidermal,  or  protective,  system. 

(i)  Is  it  continuous  and  uniform  over  the  entire 

plant? 
(2)  Is  it  smooth  or  has  it  appendages? 


THE   TISSUE   SYSTEMS    OF   PLANTS  311 

(3)  Is  it  removable  from  the  underlying  tissues? 

(4)  Does  it,  when  removed,  exhibit  any  features 

not   before   visible  ? 

II.  The    cortical,  or  food-making,  system. 

(i)  Is  it  continuous  over  the  entire  plant? 
(2)  Is  it  evenly  distributed,  and,  if  not,  where  is 
it  most  highly  developed  ? 

III.  The   fibrovascular,   or    conducting    and    strength- 

ening, system, 
(i)  Is   it   continuous   through    the    entire   plant  ? 
Place  a  spray   in   the  red   liquid  to  aid  in 
tracing  its  course. 

(2)  In   what   order  are  the   bundles  arranged  in 

the  stem? 

(3)  In  what  order  in  the  petioles? 

(4)  In  what  order  in  the  leaf? 

(5)  In  what  way  do  they  end  in  the  leaf? 

IV.  The  pith,  or  storage,  system. 

35.  In  a  young  woody  stem,  what  systems  may  be  dis- 

tinguished ? 

36.  Construct  sectional  diagrams  showing  by  colors  the  dis- 

tribution of  the  four  tissue  systems  of  the  plant 
through  stem,  leaf,  and  root,  as  seen  in  both 
longitudinal  and  cross  sections. 

37.  A  study  of  the  process  of  respiration. 

Work  done  by  plants:    need  for  energy  for  all  work: 
possible  sources  of  this  energy :   analogy  with  ani- 


312  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

mals  whose  energy  is  derived  from  their  food  and 
is  set  free  by  their  respiration.  Do  plants  respire; 
that  is,  do  they  set  free  carbon  dioxide  and  absorb 
oxygen  ?  This  can  be  tested  by  experiment  (Experi- 
ment 7) :  relative  quantities  of  the  gases  exchanged; 
the  respiratory  equation :  occurrence  of  this  pro- 
cess in  other  parts  of  the  plant:  quantities  of 
carbon  dioxide  released  :  relations  in  place  and  time 
of  this  process  to  photosynthesis :  reasons  why  the 
two  processes  do  not  neutralize  one  another :  source 
of  the  actual  energy. 

Materials.  —  Balsam  {Impatiens  Sultani)  is  easy  to  raise 
from  cuttings,  and  good  for  this  use  because  of  its  translu- 
cent stem,  which  renders  the  fibrovascular  system  very  dis- 
tinct, though  the  distribution  of  its  green  tissue  in  the  stem 
is  not  as  sharply  differentiated  as  in  most  others.  But  the 
roots,  as  in  all  cuttings,  are  small  for  effective  study,  though 
they  may  be  shown  very  clearly  in  White  Lupines  grown 
for  the  purpose.  Coleus  is  also  very  good,  and  almost  any 
soft-stemmed  greenhouse  exogenous  plant  can  be  used.  For 
Exercise  35  any  young  woody  t\Aigs  are  good,  but  those 
with  a  greenish  bark  are  best. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  is  one  of  the  most  useful 
of  exercises,  dealing  as  it  does  with  an  important  phase  of 
anatomy  {i.e.  the  contact  of,  and  transition  from,  the  visible 
to  the  invisible)  commonly  overlooked.  Of  course  the  cells, 
while  visible  in  pith  and  cortex,  are  not  to  be  studied  indi- 
vadually,  but  only  the  tissue  systems,  which  show  clearly  by 
differences  in  color,  luster,  etc.    It  is  extremely  good  for  train- 


THE   TISSUE   SYSTEMS   OF   PLANTS  .313 

ing  in  minute  observation,  and  also  constitutes  valuable 
knowledge,  for  it  gives  a  good  comprehensive  idea  of  the 
characteristics  and  distribution  of  tissues.  Far  more  of 
minute  anatomy  can  be  traced  out  with  the  hand  lens  than 
is  commonly  supposed,  and  of  course  still  more  is  possible 
with  the  dissecting  microscope.  For  the  best  results  in  this 
study  the  students  should  previously  have  had  their  attention 
called,  in  some  demonstration  or  lecture,  to  the  general  physio- 
logical conditions  to  which  plants  must  adapt  themselves, 
—  to  protection  against  drying  up  and  against  animal  enemies, 
to  need  for  exposure  of  much  green  tissue  to  light  for  food 
making,  to  aeration  of  the  interior  cells  to  allow  them  to 
respire,  to  conduction  of  raw  sap  to  the  leaf  and  of  the  food 
substances  away,  to  provision  of  strength  to  resist  winds  and 
other  strains,  &c.  With  all  these  needs  and  functions  fresh 
in  mind,  the  students  are  prepared  to  find  out  how  they  are 
arranged  for  in  the  tissue  systems  of  the  plant. 

Important  points  to  be  brought  out  are;  —  the  lenticels 
on  the  stem  (which  are  the  successors,  structurally  and 
physiologically,  of  the  stomata  of  the  younger  tissues):  the 
greater  intensity  of  the  green  on  the  upper,  i.e.  the  best 
Ughted,  surface  of  the  leaf:  the  branching  of  the  bundles  at 
the  nodes,  and  the  running  of  one  branch  into  the  leaf  and 
of  another  up  the  stem:  the  fact  that  the  bundles  form  a 
ring  in  the  stem  and  that  one,  two,  or  three  run  out  through 
the  petiole  and  branch  profusely,  ending  either  as  very 
small  veinlets  anastomosing,  or  else  ending  abruptly  in 
small  green  areas  (shows  well  in  Asarum):  the  tapering  of 
the  veins  regularly,  with  the  mechanical  reasons  therefor. 
The  point  can  also  be  brought  out,  though  by  demonstration 
rather  than  observation,  that  the  cambium  cylinder  is  con- 


314 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


tinuous  with  the  vegetative  points,  and  with  them  forms  a 
complete  closed  growth  system.  Using  eosin  or  safranin, 
tumblers  filled  with  red  dye  are  easily  prepared,  and  if  cut 
shoots  are  placed  in  them,  in  a  few  minutes  the  fibrovascular 
system  will  be  completely  stained.  Slides  and  covers  should 
be  supplied  to  allow  students  to  mount  all  sections  in  water. 


Fig.  24. —  Diagram  of  distribution  of  tissues  in  a  typical  shoot,  upper  in  longi- 
tudinal section,  lower  in  cross.  Outer  lines  =  epidermal  system;  radi- 
ating lines  =  cortical  system;  crossed  lines  =  storage  system;  spiral  lines 
=  fibrovascular  system.     On  these  systems  see  page  339. 

Excellent  thin  sections  can  be  made  with  their  scalpels,  which 
they  may  sharpen  on  the  laboratory  whetstone  provided 
for  the  purpose.  A  diagram  like  that  called  for  in  Exercise 
36  is  shown  in  Fig.  24,  where  the  colors  are  replaced  by 
special  shading. 

Physiology.  —  Respiration  ought  logically  to  be  studied 
along  with  some  topic  involving  exhibition  of  work,  such,  e.g., 
as  some  phase  of  growth  or  movement;  but  in  any  case  it 
should  follow  immediately  after  photosynthesis,  because  the 


THE   TISSUE    SYSTEMS    OF   PLANTS 


315 


two  processes  are  confused  in  the  minds  of  most  people  and 
can  best  be  distinguished  when  brought  together  in  sharp 
contrast.  It  can  be  approached  in  different  ways,  but  af- 
ter trial  of  several,  I  have  found  the  following  the  most  satis- 
factory. By  reviewing  the  facts  the  "students  have  seen  in 
connection  with  growth  and  movement,  they  can  be  led  to 
consider  the  considerable  amount  of  work  that  plants  do,  as 
when  they  lift  their  parts  against  gravitation :  swell  and  push 
out  structures  in  growing:  move  tendrils  and  twining  stems 
through  the  air:  force  roots  through  the  hard  soil  and  thicken 
them  up  against  great  resistance,  even  to  lifting  rocks  or 
curbstones  and  destroying  masonry  in  the  process:  making 
new  cells,  with  the  complicated  processes:  and  in  other 
minor  ways.  Then  it  should  be  made  clear  that  work  is 
work,  no  matter  whether  sudden  and  laborious  in  appearance, 
or  slow  and  seemingly  easy,  and  that  it  is  the  same  in  amount 
when  the  results  are  the  same,  no  matter  whether  accom- 
plished in  one  way  or  another.  It  should  also  be  empha- 
sized that  for  their  work  plants  need  a  supply  of  energy  or 
power  just  as  certainly  as  do  animals  or  a  steam  engine, 
both  of  which  are  known  to  stop  dead  when  the  supply  of 
energy  is  cut  off.  Then  attention  should  be  turned  to  the 
source  of  the  energy-supply  underlying  the  work  of  animals, 
which  everybody  knows  is  derived  from  their  food,  while  it 
is  equally  well  known  that  the  use  by  animals  of  this  energy 
in  food  is  somehow  connected  \\'ith  their  respiration.  This 
leads  to  the  question  whether  the  energy  for  plant  work  can 
be  derived  from  their  food,  which,  in  turn,  raises  the  question 
whether  plants  respire.  Since  the  most  conspicuous  mani- 
festation of  respiration  in  animals  is  well  known  to  consist 
in  the  absorption  of  oxygen  and  release  of  carbon  dioxide, 


3i6 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


our  question  is  reduced  to  this,  Is  oxygen  absorbed  or  carbon 
dioxide  released  by  the  working  parts  of  plants?  The  latter 
part  of  the  process  is  easily  tested  by  experiment  and  can 
be  demonstrated  strikingly  by  the  following  method:  Select 

two  similar  wide-mouth  bottles, 
and  provide  air-tight  (preferably 
rubber)  stoppers,  bored  with  two 
holes  for  thistle  tube  and  outlet 
tube,  which  are  arranged  as 
shown  by  the  accompanying 
Fig.  25;  and  provide  also  the 
test  tubes  or  other  slender  ves- 
sels as  there  shown.  Soak  for  a 
few  hours  enough  barley  or  oats 
to  cover  the  bottom  completely : 
then  place  them  in  one  bottle 
and  inclose  them  air  tight,  using 
a  stopper  in  the  thistle  tube  and 
a  clamp  on  the  rubber  part  of 
the  outlet  tube.  The  other  is 
to  remain  empty,  but  otherwise 
Uke  the  first,  as  a  control.  Stand 
Fig.  25.  -  Apparatus  for  the  dem-  them  in  a  warm  place  for  twenty- 

onstration  of  the  release  of  car-    four    to    forty-eight    hours,    and 
bon  dioxide  in  respiration;  Xi    ^^^^^    ^^^^^^   ^^^    ^j^^^^    ^j^    ^^^ 

slender  vessels  with  filtered  Umewater  (the  effect  pro- 
duced upon  a  similar  tube  of  Umewater  by  carbon  dioxide 
from  a  generator,  being  first  shown) ;  open  thistle  tube  and 
clamp  and  pour  water  down  the  thistle  tube,  when  the  air  of 
the  bottle  will  be  forced  to  bubble  up  through  the  Umewater, 
which  it  will  speedily  turn  very  milky,  proving  the  presence 


UiIU»=^ 


THE   TISSUE   SYSTEMS    OF   PLANTS  317 

of  plenty  of  carbon  dioxide.  The  second  bottle  when  treated 
in  the  same  way  will  show  that  the  small  amount  of  carbon 
dioxide  in  the  air  of  the  bottle  lacking  seeds  is  not  enough 
to  produce  any  appreciable  effect  on  the  limewater.  An 
advantage  of  this  apparatus  consists  in  the  possibility  of 
making  the  limewater  tube  of  any  useful  size,  either  large 
enough  to  be  seen  across  a  large  room,  or  small  enough  to  be 
projected  upon  a  screen.  Another  method,  which  to  some 
extent  will  show  the  progress  of  the  release  of  the  carbon 
dioxide,  consists  in  the  use  of  a  cylindrical  bottle  into  which 
some  limewater  is  placed  at  the  start  of  the  experiment,  and 
above  which  is  a  diaphragm  of  wire  netting  supporting  some 
thoroughly  soaked  oats  or  barley.  When  the  bottle  is  tightly 
stoppered  and  placed  under  good  conditions  for  growth,  the 
gradual  whitening  of  the  limewater,  made  all  the  more  evi- 
dent by  an  occasional  shaking  of  the  bottle,  gives  an  excel- 
lent demonstration  of  the  release  of  carbon  dioxide,  especially 
if  tried  beside  a  control  containing  no  seeds.  Still  a  third 
method  of  showing  the  progress  of  the  gas  release  in  another 
way,  lies  through  the  use  of  respiroscopes,  several  forms  of 
which  are  described  in  my  work  upon  Plant  Physiology. 
Whichever  apparatus  is  used,  it  should  be  carefully  prepared 
and  kept  for  use  year  after  year;  and  if  it  is  the  instrument 
here  figured,  it  should  be  proiided  \nth  a  suitable  wooden 
tray,  with  handles  and  shallow  round  pits  to  hold  the  bottles  in 
place. 

There  is,  unfortunately,  no  simple  method  of  directly  prov- 
ing the  absorption  of  oxygen  in  this  process,  though  it  can  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  growing  seeds,  or  other  parts,  de- 
prived of  it  cease  all  growth  and  movement.  The  usual 
ways,  however,  of  depriving  the  seeds  of  oxygen,  by  exhaust- 


3i8- 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


ing  the  air  completely  from  the  chamber  in  which  they  are 
growing,  or  by  replacing  the  air  by  hydrogen  or  other  harm- 
less gas,  are  logically  fallacious,  since  the  result  is  just  as  much 
a  proof  of  a  need  for  nitrogen  as  for  oxygen.  A  logical 
method  must  be  one  in  which  only  the  oxygen  is  removed. 

This  can  be  accomplished  by  use 
of  an  absorbent  known  to  remove 
oxygen  but  not  nitrogen;  and  a 
suitable  arrangement,  available  for 
demonstration,  is  shown  by  the  ac- 
companying figure  (Fig.  26).  In 
an  ordinary  U  tube,  place  a  wad  of 
wet  sphagnum  moss  or  cotton  wool 
in  such  manner  that  some  soaked 
oats,  or  other  convenient  seeds,  are 
held  pressed  against  the  side  of  the 
tube  some  distance  above  one  end; 
stand  the  tube,  with  the  end  cov- 
ered, in  a  place  favorable  for 
Fig.  26. — Apparatus  for  the  growth,  until  the  roots  have  grown 
demonstration  of  the  need   a  few  millimeters  long:    then  close 

for  oxygen  in  growth;   X5.  . 

this  end  of  the  tube  air  tight  with 
a  rubber  stopper,  and  place  the  other  in  a  solution  of  pyrogal- 
late  of  potash,  which  will  absorb  all  oxygen  in  the  tube 
within  an  hour,  and  will  rise  (driven  by  external  atmospheric 
pressure)  to  take  the  place  of  the  absorbed  oxygen.  The 
position  of  the  tips  of  the  roots  may  now  be  marked  on  the 
glass  so  that  any  further  growth  will  thus  be  made  visible. 
A  similar  tube  forms  a  good  control  for  proving  that  the 
seeds  are  not  killed  by  fumes  from  the  solution  used,  for  if, 
after  the  oxygen  is  all  absorbed,  the  tube  be  opened,  the  seeds 


THE   TISSUE   SYSTEMS   OF   PLANTS  319 

will  grow  on  as  well  as  before,  although  of  course  they  are 
killed  by  an  absence  of  oxygen  for  some  hours.  The  pyro- 
gallate  of  potash  is  made  by  dissolving  i  part  by  weight  of 
pyrogallic  acid  in  15  parts  of  water,  and  5  parts  of  caustic 
potash  in  15  parts  of  water,  and  mixing  these  at  the  moment 
of  use.  It  is  best  to  use  them  in  a  vessel  which  presents  as 
little  surface  as  practicable  to  the  external  air  (the  oxygen 
of  which  it  also  absorbs,  of  course)  after  the  U  tube  is  in- 
serted. The  absorption  of  oxygen  may,  however,  be  directly 
and  clearly  demonstrated  in  conjunction  with  the  release  of 
carbon  dioxide,  and  the  relative  volumes  of  the  two  involved 
may  be  determined,  all  in  one  operation,  by  use  of  a  demon- 
stration respirometer  pictured  and  described  with  full  direc- 
tions for  its  use,  in  my  work  on  Plant  Physiology. 

If  the  teacher  uses  only  the  former  demonstration  experi- 
ment, he  will  need  to  explain  that  oxygen  is  known  to  be 
absorbed,  and  can  be  shown  by  experiments  which  are,  how- 
ever, too  difficult  for  present  use.  The  common  and  easy 
experiment  often  recommended  as  demonstrating  the  release 
of  carbon  dioxide,  viz.  the  extinguishment  of  a  lighted  candle 
lowered  into  a  bottle  containing  seeds  which  have  been  ger- 
minating for  some  hours,  is  wholly  inconclusive,  since  the 
same  result  might  equally  be  due  to  deficiency  of  oxygen,  or 
to  formation  of  some  other  gas  incapable  of  supporting  com- 
bustion; and  some  other  experiments  in  this  connection  are 
also  erroneous  in  minor  ways,  as  I  have  pointed  out  in  my 
work  on  Plant  Physiology. 

The  teacher  should  explain  in  the  demonstrations  the 
other  matters  of  importance  indicated  under  Section  37. 
If  barley,  oats,  or  other  very  starchy  seeds  are  used,  the  two 
gases  exchanged  are  practically  the  same  in  quantity,  but  in 


320  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

other  kinds  the  ratio  may  be  very  different,  though  in  the 
long  run  and  after  many  complicated  intermediate  steps, 
this  equaUty  is  found  to  hold.  Hence  we  derive  the  respira- 
tory equation:  CsHioOe  +  6  Oo  =  6  CO2  +  6  H2O.  This 
equation,  however,  does  not  by  any  means  express  an 
actual  chemical  process,  for  the  intermediate  chemical 
stages  in  respiration  are  many  and  complicated;  but  it  is 
simply  a  convenient  conventional  expression  for  the  end 
results  of  the  process. 

It  should,  of  course,  be  made  plain  that  respiration  occurs 
in  all  parts  of  all  Hving  plants  at  all  times  whether  photosyn- 
thesis is  proceeding  or  not,  and  that  the  processes  are  going 
on  together  in  leaves  in  the  daytime.  The  reason  why  the 
one  does  not  neutralize  the  other  is  foimd  in  their  very  dif- 
ferent rate,  for  while  a  square  meter  of  leaf  in  an  hour  of 
daylight  absorbs  750  cc.  of  carbon  dioxide,  the  same  area 
in  the  same  time  releases  only  60  cc.  Seeds  and  buds  re- 
lease much  more,  but  never  to  a  quantity  sufficient  to  offset 
photosynthesis  in  any  given  plant.  In  a  general  way  the 
respiration  in  any  given  green  plant  probably  does  not  exceed 
one  tenth  of  the  photosynthesis.  Finally,  the  teacher  should 
explain  the  actual  source  of  the  energy  as  clearly  as  he  can, 
though  it  is  a  hard  matter  to  make  plain  to  young  students. 
In  brief,  when  sunlight  originally  split  apart  the  carbon  and 
oxygen  of  carbon  dioxide  in  photosynthesis,  the  energy  thus 
used  went  into  the  potential  or  resting  form;  and  so  it  remains 
as  long  as  the  carbon  is  held  imoxidized  in  the  food,  no  matter 
through  what  changes  and  transformation  this  may  pass. 
When  this  carbon  in  the  food  is  allowed  to  reunite  with 
oxygen,  however,  this  potential  energy  passes  again  into  the 
active  form  and,  being  released  at  the  right  place  and  under 


THE   STRUCTURE   OF   CELLS    OF   HIGHER   PLANTS     32 1 

the  right  mechanism,  does  the  required  work  of  the  plant. 
The  teacher  can  here  usefully  employ  the  comparison  with 
the  storage  battery  used  in  electric  automobiles,  where  the 
electrical  energy  goes  into  the  potential  form  in  dissociating 
the  lead  compounds  in  the  battery,  and  is  released  again 
as  electricity  when  those  compounds  are  again  allowed  to 
reform.  Respiration,  therefore,  is  simply  the  method  of  per- 
mitting the  recombination  of  oxygen  and  carbon  forcibly 
separated  in  photosynthesis,  energy  under  such  circumstances 
being  always  released,  precisely  as  it  is  in  the  closely 
analogous  process  of  combustion  of  coal.  And,  above  all, 
the  teacher  should  make  it  plain  that  the  release  of  energy 
is  the  real  end  of  the  process,  the  exchange  of  gases,  despite 
its  prominence,  being  merely  incidental  to  that. 


X.   The  Structure  of  the  Cells  of  the  Higher  Plants 

38.  Make  yourself  acquainted  with  the  general  construc- 
tion and  mode  of  use  of  the  compound  microscope, 
following  directions  to  be  given  you. 
Learn  to  use  always  these  precautions :  — 

(i)  Lift  the  microscope  (where   it  has  no  handle) 
only  by  the  parts  under  the  stage,  never  by 
the  fine  adjustment  pillar. 
(2)  In  focusing   (where  there  is  no  rack  and  pin- 
ion), support  the  outer  tube  by  the  left  hand 
and  use  the  right  to  push,  with  a  spiral  mo- 
tion, the  inner  tube  downwards;  watch  the 
descent  of  the  tube  from   one  side  until  it 


322 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


reaches  the  approximate  focal  position,  and 
(especially  with  the  high  power),  make  sure  it 
does  not  strike  the  cover  glass. 

(3)  Use  the  fine  adjustment  screw  only  for  sharpen- 

ing the  image  of  the  object,  never  for  bringing 
it  into  sight. 

(4)  Keep  the  pillar  always  towards  you,  and  make 

sure  of  the  best  light  from  the  mirror. 

(5)  Learn  to  work  with  both  eyes  open. 

(6)  Experiment    in    focusing,     and     learn     that 

turning  the  fine  adjustment  screw  clockwise 

means     down,    and     counterclockwise    up; 

experiment  also  in  moving  an  object,  taking 

note  of  the  reversal. 
39.  Study  the  structure  of  a  living  cell,  as  exhibited  in  the 
epidermal  hairs  of  the  Cucurbita. 
(i)  What    is    the   shape,   not  only   in  length  and 

breadth,  but  in  all  three  dimensions? 

(2)  What  structure  has  the  wall,  including  that  be- 

tween two  cells  ?     Is  it  homogeneous,  or  has 
it  openings  or  markings? 

(3)  What  is  the  appearance  presented  by  the  pro- 

toplasm? Does  it  completely  fill  the  cell? 
Has  it  any  motion  ? 

(4)  Do  you  find  a  denser  rounded  body  (nucleus)  ? 
If  so,  what  structure  has  it?     Is  it  surrounded 

by  the  cytoplasm? 


THE   STRUCTURE   OF   CELLS    OF   HIGHER   PLANTS     323 

(5)  Are  there  any  chlorophyl  grains,  or  anything 
resembling  them? 
Study  in  the  same  way  some  other  cells. 
40,    A  study  of  the  process  of  Fermentation. 

Release  of  carbon  dioxide  not  confined  to  respiration; 
other  cases,  including  fermentation :  the  yeast  plant. 
Experimental  study  of  the  release  of  the  carbon 
dioxide  (Experiment  8).  Other  products  of  fer- 
mentation; economics  of  fermentation ;  significance 
to  the  plant  causing  it  and  relation  to  respiration ; 
analogous  processes  in  decay  and  bacterial  action. 

Materials.  —  For  this  work  there  is  needed  some  good 
example  of  a  typical  liv-ing  plant  cell,  showing  all  of  the 
usual  parts,  \iz.  nucleus,  cytoplasm  (in  active  streaming), 
vacuoles,  and  wall,  with  plastids,  if  possible.  For  this  the 
best  object  known  to  me  for  every  feature  except  the  plas- 
tids, is  the  stamen  hair  of  the  Spiderwort,  Tradescantia  vir- 
giniana,  which  is  easily  obtained  in  gardens  in  late  spring 
and  summer,  but  not  at  other  times  unless  the  plants  are 
cut  back  in  the  spring,  when  they  may  be  made  to  flower  in 
the  late  fall;  if  covered  at  night  by  a  frame  and  sash,  or  if 
brought  into  a  cool  greenhouse,  they  may  be  kept  in  good 
condition  until  near  December  i.  The  Wandering  Jew, 
Tradescantia  zebrina,  common  in  greenhouses,  has  hairs  less 
excellent,  but  ser\dceable. 

But  these  materials  are  not  often  available,  and  nearly  as 
good  (in  some  ways  quite  as  good)  are  the  hairs  on  the  new 
leaves  of  squash  plants  {Ciicurbita),  which  are  easily  grown 


324  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

from  seed  for  the  purpose.  The  Hubbard  Squash  is  the 
best,  and  if  grown  in  a  very  sandy  soil,  beginning  with  small 
pots,  can  be  brought  into  perfect  condition,  with  abundance 
of  hairs,  in  six  or  eight  weeks.  Several  plants  found  in 
greenhouses,  however,  have  good  hairs,  notably  Gloxinia, 
Abutilon,  Tomato,  Heliotrope,  some  Pelargoniums,  and  a 
number  of  others,  which  are  Usted,  together  with  data  con- 
cerning the  rate  of  streaming  of  the  protoplasm,  by  Grace 
BusHEE  in  the  Botanical  Gazette,  46,  1908,  50.  The  stream- 
ing of  the  protoplasm  in  these  cells  is  a  phenomenon  more 
striking  than  important,  and  the  students  must  not  be  allowed 
to  think  that  it  is  a  universal  attribute  of  living  protoplasm. 
The  streaming  has  an  incidental  value  in  connection  with 
this  subject,  however,  as  proving  that  the  protoplasm  is  alive 
and  in  good  condition.  It  shows  with  particular  clearness 
in  the  species  of  Stoneworts,  Nitella  (or  Chara),  which  grow 
in  ponds  and  slow  streams  and  may  be  kept  aUve  in  green- 
houses in  tubs  all  winter.  It  is  also  desirable  to  have  at 
hand  some  mounted  and  stained  slides  of  various  cells 
for  purposes  of  demonstration  in  extending  a  knowledge  of 
cell  structure. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  is  of  great  im- 
portance, and  likewise  always  of  deep  interest,  to  the  stu- 
dents, since  it  introduces  them  to  the  actual  use  of  the  best- 
known  and  most  essential  tool  of  biological  study,  —  the 
microscope,  —  while  at  the  same  time  giving  them  a  knowledge 
of  the  hving  plant  cell.  If  well  managed,  the  work  is  by  no 
means  difficult,  and  certainly  it  should  never  be  omitted 
except  under  direst  stress  of  lack  of  instruments  or  material. 

The  desirable  microscope  for  use  in  the  general  course  has 
already  been   fully  considered    (p.   126).       At   the   outset, 


THE   STRUCTURE   OF   CELLS    OF   HIGHER   PLANTS     325 

the  status  of  the  microscope,  as  simply  an  aid  to  vision,  and 
not  a  creation  with  mysterious  powers  of  its  own,  should  be 
made  plain  to  the  students.  Before  this  they  will  have  learned 
to  use  simple  lenses,  and  on  the  basis  of  this  latter  knowl- 
edge, the  principle  of  the  compound  microscope  may  be 
briefly  explained  as  an  arrangement  in  which  a  magnified 
image  of  the  object  (given  by  the  objective)  is  further  mag- 
nified by  the  ocular.  To  insure  a  sane  and  safe  manipula- 
tion of  the  instrument,  the  teacher  should  begin  with  a  demon- 
stration of  the  mode  of  handUng  the  microscopes,  starting 
with  these  still  in  their  cases,  and  directing  the  students 
collectively  in  the  first  withdrawal,  setting' up  and  focusing 
of  the  instrument,  with  comments  on  its  care,  the  names  of 
its  parts,  etc.  For  the  first  steps  in  focusing,  moving  of 
objects,  etc.,  it  is  well  to  use  some  object  already  familiar 
to  the  eye,  for  which  purpose  the  simple  device  of  words  in 
fine  print  attached  to  glass  sUdes  is  sometimes  employed; 
and  on  these  or  something  equivalent  the  students  should 
practice  the  use  of  the  instrument  before  proceeding  to  the 
living  cells.  In  passing  to  the  study  of  the  living  cell,  how- 
ever, every  step  of  removing  the  hair  by  knife  or  forceps,  of 
placing  it  in  water  in  the  middle  of  the  slide,  and  of  drop- 
ping on  it  a  cover  glass  in  such  a  manner  as  to  exclude  air, 
should  be  performed,  under  the  teacher's  direction,  by  the 
students  themselves.  With  good  material,  they  should  be 
able  to  see  all  of  the  principal  parts  of  the  cell,  and  to  draw 
them  well.  In  this  connection  the  teacher  should  review 
the  advice,  earher  given  (p.  102),  as  to  drawing  of  cells. 
The  cells  should  be  drawn  as  seen  in  optical  section.  In 
the  demonstrations  the  teacher  should  make  it  plain  that, 
despite  its   apparent  insignificance,   the  protoplasm   is   the 


326 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


important  thing  in  the  cells;  and  of  course  he  will  explain 
the  general  function  of  all  of  the  principal  parts,  and  point 
out  that  the  word  "  protoplasm  "  applies  to  all  the  living  con- 
tents of  the  cells,  which  are  composed  of  cytoplasm,  nucleus, 
and  plastids.     In  a  demonstration,  the  teacher  should  take 

up  the  subject  of  protoplasm, 
giving  a  general  account,  with 
as  abundant  illustration  as  pos- 
sible, of  the  range  of  texture, 
hardness,  color,  etc.,  of  the  sub- 
stance, ^^^th  some  of  the  inter- 
esting facts  about  it  as  the  sole 
physical  basis  of  life,  some  refer- 
ence to  its  chemical  composition, 
and  some  discussion  of  its  origin 
with  reference  particularly  to 
spontaneous  generation. 

Physiology.  —  The  great  scien- 
tific interest  and  vast  economic 
importance  of  fermentation  com- 
bine to  make  desirable  the  intro- 
duction of  its  study  into  any  ele- 
mentary course.  It  comes  natu- 
rally immediately  after  the  study  of  respiration  (for  of 
course  fermentation  is  simply  the  yeast's  respiration),  and 
the  teacher  may  lead  up  to  it  by  a  discussion  of  headings 
given  under  Exercise  40.  The  experimental  demonstration 
of  the  release  of  carbon  dioxide  is  very  easy;  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  place  in  a  flask  or  bottle  some  strong  solution  of  sugar 
(say  15  grams  to  100  cc.  of  water),  add  thereto  a  cake  of  com- 
pressed yeast,  stand  the  whole  in  a  warm  place  (about  28°  C), 


Fig.  27.  —  Apparatus  for  the 
demonstration  of  the  release 
of  carbon  dioxide  in  fermen- 
tation; X  3. 


THE  ANATOMY  OF  LEAVES  327 

when  fermentation  begins  within  a  few  minutes,  though  it  may 
take  nearly  an  hour  to  develop  enough  gas  for  a  good  demon- 
stration. In  a  class-room  demonstration,  the  warmth  can  be 
given  by  placing  the  flask  over  an  incandescent  electric  hght 
bulb,  with  some  black  cloth  between.  If,  now,  a  suitable 
outlet  tube  has  been  provided,  as  shown  in  Fig.  27,  the 
gas,  as  it  comes  off,  will  be  led  to  the  bottom  of  a  tall  vessel 
containing  filtered  limewater,  up  through  which  it  will  bubble 
in  a  way  to  form  a  very  striking  demonstration,  proceeding 
before  the  eyes  of  the  class,  that  carbon  dioxide  is  a  product 
of  fermentation.  Unfortunately,  no  such  clear  demonstra- 
tion of  the  other  principal  product,  alcohol,  is  possible.  The 
characteristic  odor  yielded  on  application  of  the  iodoform  test 
for  alcohol  (as  described  in  all  works  on  cheinistry)  is  given 
by  the  liquid  in  the  flask,  but  very  badly.  The  usual  method 
is  that  of  distilling  the  hquid  and  applying  the  test  to  the 
distillate,  which  is  conclusive,  but  difi&cult  of  manipulation. 

XI.   The  Anatomy  of  Leaves 

41.  Study  the  structure  of  the  protective  (epidermal)  cells 
of  a  typical  leaf. 

(i)    What  is  the  shape  of  the  cells? 

(2)  Have  they  nuclei,  chlorophyl  grains,  visible 

cytoplasm,  or  any  cytoplasmic  movement  ? 

(3)  Can  you  find  the  openings  (stomata)  between 

them,  and  are  the  bordering  (guard)  cells 
diflferent  from  others? 
Answer  by  a  study  of  the  epidermis  of  Tradescantia, 
which  may  be  peeled  off  after  observation  of  its  char- 


328  THE    TEACHING    BOTANIST 

acters  as  seen  in  position,  and  also  of  the  prepared, 
section  of  Barberry  leaf. 

42.  Study   the   structure   of   the   food-making  cells  of   a 

typical  leaf. 

(i)  What  is  the  shape  of  the  cells?     Do  these 
differ  in  different  parts,  or  towards  dififerent 
surfaces,  of  the  leaf? 
(2)  "Wliat  is  the  structure  of  their  protoplasmic 
parts  ? 
Answer  by  study  of  the  Barberry  leaf  from  prepared  sec- 
tions, after  observation  of  its  characters  as  a  whole. 

43.  Study  the  structure  of  the  strengthening  and  conduct- 

ing (fibrovascular  or  vein)  cells  of  the  leaf. 

In  the  cross  sections  of  the  bundles,  can 
you  distinguish  between  the  thick-walled 
strengthening  cells,  and  the  conducting 
cells,  the  latter  of  two  kinds  ? 

44.  Study  the  structure  of  the  aeration  (intercellular)  system. 

(i)  Do  you  see  any  evidence  of  its   continuity 

through  the  leaf  ? 
(2)  Do  you  find  its  connection  with  the  outside 
atmosphere  through  the  stomata? 
Answer  by  study  of  the  prepared  sections,  and  finally 
show  all  of  the  systems,  including  the  epidermal,  in 
a  single  drawing. 

45.  Examine  leaves  of  the  rose,  tracing  the  veins  to  the 

end.     Then  study  prepared  slides  of  this  leaf. 


THE  ANATOMY  OF  LEAVES  329 

46.  A   Study   of  Transpiration. 

Familiar  phenomena  showing  that  leaves  give  off 
water  in  the  form  of  vapor;  the  exact  amount 
should  be  readily  determinable  by  experiment  for 
day  and  night  under  ordinary  conditions  (Ex- 
periment 9).  Results  of  many  determinations: 
effects  of  external  conditions  on  the  process :  cor- 
relations with  the  anatomy  of  the  leaf :  action  of  the 
guard  cells :  physiological  meaning  of  transpiration. 

Materials.  —  There  appears  to  be  no  single  known  leaf 
which  shows  all  of  the  tissues  in  typical  condition,  while  at 
the  same  time  practicable  for  study  by  students  in  the  general 
course;  hence  it  is  better  to  use  different  leaves  for  a  first 
study  of  the  tissues  and  to  gather  up  their  connections,  etc., 
by  a  study  of  some  single  leaf.  Moreover,  since  it  is  prac- 
tically impossible  for  students  to  make  hand  sections  of 
leaves  sufficiently  thin  to  show  the  details  of  cellular  struc- 
ture, these  must  be  prepared  beforehand  by  the  teacher, 
either  freshly  cut,  or  mounted  and  stained. 

For  epidermal  cells  the  best  leaf  known  to  me  is  that  of 
the  Wandering  Jew  {Tradescantia  zebrina)  of  greenhouses. 
Those  with  a  purple  under  side  are  best,  since  by  holding 
them  up  to  the  light  one  can  see  with  a  hand  lens,  and  almost 
with  the  naked  eye,  the  guard  cells  showdng  bright  green 
against  the  purple;  moreover,  the  epidermis  can  be  removed 
very  easily  by  starting  a  bit  with  a  knife  point,  and  then 
stripping  it  away,  when  of  course  it  should  be  mounted  at 
once  in  water  under  a  cover  glass.  Other  plants  with  easily 
removable  epidermis  are  the  Marguerite  {Chrysanthemum  fru- 


330  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

tescens),  Cyclamen,  Horseshoe  Geranium,  Sunflower,  and 
others  which  are  named,  along  with  many  facts  about  the 
sizes,  numbers,  and  visibihty  of  stomata,  considered  from  the 
present  point  of  view,  in  an  article  by  Sophia  Eckerson 
in  the  Botanical  Gazette,  46,  1908,  221.  For  the  entire  in- 
ternal anatomy,  leaves  of  India  Rubber  Plant  (Ficus  elastica) 
are  very  good,  except  that  the  epidermis  and  stomata  are 
of  unusual  type.  This  leaf  has  the  advantage  that  it  is 
possible  to  make  fair  sections  with  scalpels  and  good  ones 
with  razors,  though  prepared  and  mounted  microtome  sec- 
tions are  necessary  for  the  full  demonstration  of  cellular 
anatomy.  Such  sections,  if  made  across  the  veins  running 
out  from  the  midrib,  show  the  interior  tissues  very  beauti- 
fully. A  better  all-round  leaf  is  that  of  the  Barberry,  while 
the  Rose  is  nearly  as  good,  and  has  the  advantage  of  showing 
very  clearly  the  mode  of  ending  of  the  veins  in  the  green 
areas  of  the  leaf. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  is  important  for 
training  in  manipulation  of  the  microscope,  for  microscopic 
observation,  and  for  giving  a  knowledge  of  the  very  im- 
portant subject  of  cellular  anatomy.  The  teacher  should  be 
careful,  however,  at  this  stage,  to  have  the  students  corre- 
late microscopic  with  macroscopic  observation  by  insisting 
that  they  look  carefully  at  all  objects  first  with  the  naked 
eye,  and  then  with  the  hand  lens,  before  resorting  to  the 
microscope. 

Under  Exercise  41,  the  important  points  for  observation 
are,  —  the  forms  of  the  guard  cells :  the  fact  that  they  are 
in  pairs,  and  not  part  of  a  single  ring-formed  cell:  that  they 
have  chlorophyll  that  nuclei  show  in  the  other  epidermal 
cells.     The  importance  of  the  protoplasm,  despite  its  incon- 


THE   ANATOMY   OF   LEAVES  33 1 

spicuousness,  needs  constant  emphasis.  In  drawing  the  cellsj 
the  students  should  represent  them  as  complete  structures 
with  definite  walls,  not  simply  as  shaded  masses.  The  func- 
tions of  the  different  kinds  of  cells,  the  reasons  for  the  dif- 
ference between  paUsade  and  spongy  layers,  the  importance 
of  the  aeration  system  and  of  its  connection  with  the  stomata, 
the  action  of  guard  cells,  the  mode  of  ending  of  the  fibro- 
vascular  bundles  in  the  leaf  parenchyma  (which,  by  the 
way,  can  be  seen  very  clearly  with  the  naked  eye  in  leaves 
of  Asarum,  and  with  a  lens  in  the  leaf  of  cabbage) ,  the  mean- 
ing of  the  occasional  crystal-holding  cells,  the  mutual  inter- 
relations of  position  of  the  tissues,  the  forms  of  epidermal 
growths,  — all  of  these  will  of  course  be  considered  in  the 
demonstrations  in  connection  with  the  functions  of  the  leaf. 
Physiology.  —  Having  completed,  as  far  as  is  appropriate 
to  a  general  course,  the  study  of  the  two  most  fundamental 
physiological  processes  of  the  plant,  the  natural  sequence  of 
topics  would  bring  next  the  study  of  absorption  and  elimina- 
tion of  the  substances  used  in  these  processes.  Closely  con- 
nected with  the  absorption  of  water  is  its  transpiration, 
and  as  this  is  chiefly  a  leaf  process  we  may  best  consider  it 
along  with  the  leaf  structure.  It  is  a  subject  which  invites 
a  great  amount  of  satisfactory  experimental  study,  but  of 
course  should  be  treated  in  the  general  course  only  in  its 
most  essential  features.  After  calling  the  attention  of  the 
students  to  the  way  in  which  water  collects  on  any  glass  walls 
surrounding  plants  (e.g.  ferneries,  windows  full  of  house 
plants,  etc.),  the  teacher  may  prove  that  this  moisture  is 
derived  (mostly,  at  least)  from  the  leaves  and  stems,  by  wrap- 
ping the  pot  and  earth  in  a  waterproof  covering  and  sur- 
rounding the  whole  with  a  bell -jar,  or  by  inserting  the  top 


332  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

in  a  bell-jar  through  an  opening  in  a  spHt  cardboard  made 
to  form  the  bottom  of  the  bell-jar.  The  same  end  may  be 
attained  more  simply  by  placing  the  petiole  of  a  leaf  through 
a  small  opening  in  a  cardboard  resting  on  top  of  a  tumbler 
nearly  filled  with  water,  the  leaf  being  covered  by  a  similar 
tumbler  inverted.  It  is  very  easy  to  determine  the  trans- 
piration experimentally,  the  best  method  being  that  of  weigh- 
ing a  potted  plant  jn  which  all  evaporation  from  the  pot  and 
earth  are  prevented  by  a  suitable  water-tight  covering.  There 
are  many  ways  of  effecting  this  latter  object  (all  described 
in  my  book  on  experimental  Plant  Physiology) ,  but  the  best 
is  this:  Inclose  the  pot  in  a  tight  metal  cover,  such  as  one 
of  the  aluminum  shells  made  expressly  for  the  purpose,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  28,  or  replace  the  pot  by  a  tin  can  (with  added 
earth  to  fill  the  extra  space).  Roof  the  shell  or  can  over 
by  rubber  tissue  ("  rubber  dam  "  of  dentists),  in  which  has 
been  cut  a  round  hole  a  little  smaller  than  the  stem,  with 
a  slit  thence  to  the  edge  of  the  piece;  place  the  rubber  around 
the  stem  and  stretch  it  a  trifle  so  as  to  make  the  cut  edges 
overlap,  and  then  seal  these  together  with  liquid  rubber 
cement  (obtainable  everywhere  in  small  tubes),  holding  the 
parts  together  for  a  few  minutes  until  the  cement  becomes 
firm :  then  run  a  Hne  of  this  cement  along  one  margin  of  the 
cut,  quickly  overlap  the  other  upon  it,  and  hold  firmly  until 
the  cement  has  set.  Finally,  fasten  the  loose  margin  to  the 
metal  shell  or  can,  either  by  the  strap  pro\ided  (on  the 
aluminum  shell)  for  the  purpose,  or  by  a  copper  wire  twisted 
with  a  single  turn  permitting  it  to  be  easily  released.  Then 
cut  away  the  surplus  margin,  and  there  will  remain  a  per- 
fectly tight,  neat  roof  readily  removable  at  any  time  for 
watering  the  plant  and  renewing  the  air  at  the  roots.     It  is 


THE   ANATOMY   OF   LEAVES 


333 


in  this  latter  feature,  one  which  means  much  to  the  continued 
health  of  the  plant,  that  this  method  is  superior  to  all  those 
in  which  the  roof  is  kept  fixed  and  the  water  is  added  through 
a  funnel  or  thistle  tube.  Or,  one  can  place  the  pot  entire 
in  a  suitable  glass  jar  (e.g.  a  battery  jar),  making  the  roof  as 


Fig.  28. — Aluminum  shell,  roofed  with  rubber,  for  preventing  evaporation 

from  soil  and  pot ;  X  j. 

just  described.  It  is  now  only  necessary  to  weigh  the  plant 
on  a  good  balance,  the  more  accurate  and  sensitive  the 
better  (the  Harvard  tip-scale  used  in  experiments  in  ele- 
mentary physics  is  fair),  but  if  the  available  balance  is  not 
very  sensitive,  then  the  larger  the  plant  .the  better.  If  the 
plant  is  started  well  watered,  then  it  is  only  necessary  to 
weigh  it  at  intervals,  and,  lifting  the  rubber  roof,  once  a  day 
to  make  up  the  loss  of  the  preceding  twenty-four  hours.     At 


334  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

the  same  time  one  should  puff  out  the  old  air  displaced  from 
the  soil  by  the  water,  and  the  plant  will  keep  healthy  for  an 
indefinite  time.  If  the  experiment  is  tried  in  the  short 
days  of  winter,  it  is  well  to  make  the  weighings  morning 
and  evening,  eight  hours  apart,  which  will  permit  a  compari- 
son of  an  eight-hour  day  period  with  a  sixteen-hour  night 
period,  and  therefore  a  determination  of  the  comparative 
loss  per  hour  day  and  night.  Since  the  absolute  amount  of 
transpiration  must  vary  with  the  size  of  the  plant,  it  is  desir- 
able to  determine  the  leaf  area  of  the  plant,  which  is  easily 
done  by  tracing  the  outlines  of  the  leaves  on  cross-section 
paper,  or  by  other  methods  given  in  the  suitable  books;  the 
results  should  then  be  reduced  to  a  standard  of  grams  per 
square  meter  per  hour,  a  method  which  allows  the  transpira- 
tion of  plants  of  different  sizes  and  of  different  kinds  to  be 
directly  compared.  It  has  been  found  that  greenhouse  plants 
imder  ordinary  conditions  transpire,  on  the-  average,  about 
50  grams  of  water  per  square  meter  per  hour  by  day  and  10 
grams  at  night,  though  the  quantities  range  very  much  above 
and  below  this  mean  in  the  case  of  particular  plants.  The 
general  effect  of  external  influences  can  be  shown  by  plac- 
ing the  plant  on  successive  days  in  places  of  very  different 
conditions  as  to  darkness,  dampness,  cold,  etc.,  and  there 
are  other  very  excellent  and  striking  methods  for  experi- 
mentally testing  this  matter,  especially  that  by  the  use 
of  potometers  described  in  the  suitable  books.  An  instru- 
ment has  been  invented,  called  a  transpirograph  (included 
among  the  normal  apparatus  mentioned  earlier  on  p.  134), 
which  makes  a  plant  mark  its  own  transpiration,  with  great 
accuracy,  upon  a  drum;  and  by  its  use  transpiration  can  be 
determined  with  precision  continuously  through  day  and  night 


THE   ANATOMY   OF   STEMS  335 

for  a  week.  If,  simultaneously,  the  various  external  condi- 
tions are  also  recorded,  a  direct  determination  is  possible 
of  the  effects  .of  external  conditions  upon  transpiration. 

The  best  of  the  plants  readily  available  for  transpiration 
studies  in  winter,  together  with  the  exact  quantities  they 
give,  have  been  determined  and  described,  from  the  present 
point  of  view,  in  a  paper  by  Grace  Clapp,  pubUshed  in  the 
Botanical  Gazette,  45,  1908,  254.  She  shows  that  the  best,  in 
order  of  excellence,  are  Sunflower,  Tomato,  Lady  Washing- 
ton Geranium,  Marguerite,  White  Lupine,  Fuchsia,  Garden 
Nasturtium. 

In  a  demonstration  the  teacher  will,  of  course,  discuss  the 
other  topics  mentioned  in  Section  46.  The  available  evi- 
dence seems  to  show  that  transpiration  is  chiefly  a  purely 
physical  process  of  evaporation  from  the  moist  interior  of 
the  leaf  to  the  drier  outside  air  through  stomata  which  must 
be  open  for  the  passage  of  gases,  but  that  it  is  somewhat, 
though  slightly  and  clumsily,  controlled  by  the  action  of  the 
movable  guard  cells.  It  has  apparently  Uttle  physiological 
utility,  or  at  least  it  is  copious  far  beyond  any  demand  of 
utility;  on  the  contrary  it  may  become  a  source  of  great 
danger,  and  this  fact  explains  the  existence  of  many  striking 
adaptations  which  secure  protection  against  it. 


XII.    The  Anatomy  of  Stems 

47.  Study  the  structure  of   a  well-marked    fibrovascular 
bundle  in  a  young  stem  cut  lengthwise. 

(i)  In   what   general    features    do   the    cells   of 
the  bundle  differ  from  those  outside  of  it  ? 


336  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

(2)  What  lengths  do  these  cells  exhibit?     Can 

you  find  any  cross  walls? 

(3)  Can  you  distinguish  ducts  from  "sieve  tubes? 

In  what  positions  do  the  rings  and  spirals 
occur  ? 

(4)  Can   you    find    any   cytoplasm    in    the    cells 

of  the  bundles?     Any  nuclei? 

Answer  by  a  study  of  the  prepared  sections  of  Cucurbita. 

48.  Study  the  cellular  structure  and  distribution  of  each 
of  the  tissue  systems  in  a  representative  of  one  of  the 
two  leading  types  of  stems,  viz.  the  Corn. 

(i)  Of  what  kinds  of  cells,   and   in  how  many 
layers,  is  the  epidermis? 

(2)  What    is    the    structure    of   the   cells   within 

the      stem      outside      of      the      bundles? 
Can  you  distinguish  cortex  from  pith? 

(3)  What    is    the    structure    of    a    fibro vascular 

bundle?      Is    there    any    cambium?       In 
what  order  are  the  bundles  distributed? 

(4)  Do  you  find  any  aeration  system  ? 

Answer  from  a  study  of  sections  made  by  yourselves,  in 
conjunction  with  prepared  slides.  Show  in  one  draw- 
ing, along  a  narrow  band  from  center  to  circumference 
of  the  stem,  the  characters  of  the  cells,  including  those 
of  one  complete  fibrovascular  bundle.  In  a  diagram- 
matic drawing,  show  the  distribution  of  the  tissue 
systems  by  colors. 


THE   ANATOMY   OF   STEMS  337 

49.  Study  the  cellular  structure  and  distribution  of  each 

of  the  tissue  systems  in  a  representative  of  the  other 
of  the  two  leading  types  of  stems,  viz.  the  /Vristo- 
lochia,  observing  both  young  and  old  stems. 
Follow  in  this  sttidy  the  outline  of  the  preceding  subject. 

With  the  oldest  Aristolochia  stem,  compare  a  piece  of 
oak  wood,  and  determine  the  homologous  parts. 
Can  you  understand  the  relations  of  the  structure 
of  wood  to  the  fibrovascular  structure  of  stems? 

50.  What  are  the  principal  facts  involved  in  the  transfer 

of  water  along  stems,  as  to  the  quantities,  distances, 
and  paths  of  the  current?  What  is  the  present 
belief  as  to  the  explanation  of  the  physical  forces 
which  underlie  this  work?    . 

Materials.  —  The  crucial  feature  of  stem  structure  is  of 
course  the  fibrovascular  bundle,  of  which,  therefore,  the  stu- 
dent should  acquire  a  clear  knowledge.  But  as  it  is  very  diffi- 
cult, with  most  stems,  to  make  sections  thin  enough  to  show 
well  the  bundle  constituents  in  longitudinal  section,  it  is  best 
for  the  student  to  study  first  a  stem  in  which  these  constit- 
uents are  unusually  clear,  and  such  a  stem  is  offered  by  the 
Squash  {Cucurbita).  Mounted  and  stained  sections,  show- 
ing both  cross  and  longitudinal  sections  under  the  same 
cover  glass,  are  best.  For  the  other  two  stems,  Indian 
Corn,  which  must  be  collected  in  summer  and  preserved  in 
two  per  cent  formaline  (and,  to  remove  the  fumes  irritating  to 
the  eyes,  thoroughly  washed  just  before  use),  and  Dutch- 
man's Pipe  {Aristolochia  Sipho)  which  grows  in  most  cities 


338  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

as  a  porch  vine  and  which  may  be  taken  at  any  time  of 
year,  are  admirable.  Of  both  stems,  material  for  the  students 
to  section,  and  also  mounted  sections,  should  be  provided. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  both  continues  the 
training  and  extends  the  knowledge  of  the  preceding  section. 
It  offers  good  opportunity  for  training  in  the  manipulation 
of  sectioning,  which  can  be  done  fairly  with  sharp  scalpels, 
and  much  better,  of  course,  with  razors.  The  mounted  sec- 
tions should  be  given  the  students  only  after  they  have  done 
their  best  with  their  own.  After  students  have  once  a  good 
idea  of  the  general  structure  of  the  constituents  of  the  bundle, 
they  can  work  advantageously  with  cross  sections  alone,  at 
least  with  respect  to  the  distribution  of  the  tissue  systems. 
As  matter  of  observation  the  companion  cells,  square  in  sec- 
tion, at  the  angles  of  the  sieve  tubes  in  Corn,  should  be 
clearly  seen.  Both  Corn  and  Aristolochia  are  well  differen- 
tiated stems,  exhibiting  the  tissues  beautifully,  and  this  work 
ought  to  interest  students  much.  Some  good  work  in  a 
study  of  the  development  of  tissues,  suitable  for  a  special 
topic,  is  afforded  by  the  Aristolochia,  which,  if  studied  by 
sections  made  at  intervals  from  the  tip  back  to  the  old  stem, 
shows  clearly  the  stages  in  development  of  some  special 
tissues,  including  the  sclerenchyma  ring,  the  bark,  the  annual 
rings  in  the  bundles,  and  the  continuous  cambium  ring.  The 
Aristolochia  allows  also  the  transition  to  be  traced  from  the 
separate  bundles  of  young  stems  to  the  solid  woody  mass  of 
older  wood,  with  its  medullary  rays,  etc.  Wood  structure  is 
illustrated  especially  well  in  oak,  where  the  student  may 
find  for  himself  (presumably  much  better  by  the  intermedia- 
tion of  young  twigs),  the  fact  that  the  shining  plates  of  quar- 
tered oak  are  the  medullary  rays.     In  this  connection  the 


THE   ANATOMY   OF   STEMS 


339 


structure  of  other  woods,  especially  when  studied  along  with 
sections  of  their  young  twigs,  is  of  great  interest,  particularly 
as  most  of  the  tissue  systems  of  stems  can  be  recognized  by 
aid  of  a  hand  lens  without  the  use  of  the  microscope.  In 
connection  with  wood  structure,  the  teacher  should  explain 
the  principle  by  which  wood  is  converted  into  pulp  and  used 
in  the  making  of  paper,  and  he  should  consider  the  value  of 
various  kinds  of  wood  as  timber. 

The  construction  of  the  colored  diagrams  under  Exercises 
48  and  49  is  very  valuable  as  a  morphological  study,  and 
will  serve  to  impress  firmly  on  the  student's  mind  the  funda- 
mental differences  between  the  two  leading  types  of  stems. 

The  systems  of  tissues  of  plants  can  be  considered  either 
from  a  physiological  or  a  morphological  point  of  view,  the 
former  being  much  the  more  important  to  general  students. 
The  two  points  of  view  coincide  in  large  part,  though  not 
wholly,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  following:  — 

TABLE  OF  THE   SYSTEMS  OF  TISSUES 


Physiological  Systems 

Name  of  Cells             Morphological  Sysk 

Protective 

Epidermis 

Epidermal 

Cork 

Cortex  (usually) 

Food  making 

Green  parenchyma 

Cortex 

Conducting 

Ducts 
Sieve  tubes 

Xylem  (part) 
Phloem  (part) 

Growth 

Cambium 

Cambium 

Wood  fibers 

Xylem  (part) 

Strengthening 

Bast  fibers 

Phloem  (part) 

Sclerenchyma 

Cortex  (part) 
Cortex  (part) 

Storage 

Colorless  parenchyma 

Pith 
Medullary  rays 

Aeration 

Intercellular  spaces 

34©  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

Physiology.  —  Belonging  naturally  with  the  study  of  stems 
is  the  study  of  the  process  of  water  transport  through  them. 
The  subject,  however,  though  of  great  importance  and  in- 
terest, is  one  on  which  little  experimental  demonstration  or 
illustration  is  possible.  The  path  of  the  ascending  sap  cur- 
rent can  be  shown  in  various  cut  stems  by  immersing  them 
for  a  time  in  water  colored  by  eosin,  or  other  very  soluble 
stain,  and  later  sectioning  them  at  different  heights;  but 
nothing  as  to  the  physics  of  the  ascent  can  be  illustrated  in 
this  course,  especially  since  the  matter  is  not  yet  settled. 
Nevertheless,  the  teacher  should  treat  the  subject  in  class, 
first  explaining  the  problem,  especially  as  to  the  great  amount 
of  work  done  by  trees  in  raising  so  much  water.  Some  large 
trees  give  off  one  thousand  pounds  of  water  in  a  single  hot 
day,  and  if  a  tall  tree  of  over  one  hundred  feet  height  be  con- 
sidered, it  can  be  shown  that  the  work  required  to  raise  this 
amount  of  water  to  that  height  is  almost  the  same  as  is 
needed  to  carry  some  six  hundred  ordinary  bucketfuls  of 
water  up  an  ordinary  flight  of  stairs.  In  some  such  way 
the  problem  can  be  familiarized  so  that  the  students  will 
appreciate  the  energy  needed.  The  explanation  of  the 
physics  of  the  process  is  still  doubtful,  but  it  is  easy  to  show 
that  the  popular  explanation  of  "  suction  "  i.e.  capillarity, 
is  wholly  inadequate,  while  the  former  scientific  belief  that 
the  water  is  forced  up  by  the  action  of  living  cells  is  quite 
disproven.  Most  students  to-da}^  accept  the  traction  theory 
of  Dixon  and  Joly,  viz.  that  in  thin  threads,  such  as  occur 
in  the  ducts,  water,  by  the  mutual  cohesion  of  its  molecules, 
hangs  together  like  a  soUd  thread;  the  upper  ends  of  these 
threads  are  drawn  into  the  leaf  cells  by  osmosis  (a  process 
soon  to  be  studied),  thus  lifting  the  entire  thread.     From 


THE   ANATOMY  OF   ROOTS  341 

the  leaf  cells  the  water  is  forced  out  by  evaporation  (trans- 
piration), the  energy  for  which  is  derived  from  the  heat  sur- 
rounding the  plant.  Thus  in  a  general  way  the  power  which 
lifts  water  up  the  stems  of  tall  trees  is  the  same  as  that  which 
raises  it  into  the  clouds. 

XIII.    The  Anatomy  of  Roots 

51.  Study  the  external  structure  of  the  young  roots  of  the 

Radish. 

(i)  What  distinct  structures  are  visible? 

(2)  What  is  the  structure,  distribution,  and  mode 

of  connection  of  the  root  hairs  with  the 
root? 

(3)  What  is  the  structure  of  the  tip? 

How  much  of  the  internal  structure  can  be 
seen  without  sectioning? 
Something   more  becomes  visible  if  the  root  is  immersed 
for  a  few  minutes  in  strong  caustic  potash,  then  washed 
and  mounted  in  water  on  a  slide. 

52.  Study  the  internal  structure  of  a  typical  root  as  shown 

by  sections. 

(i)  What  is  the  structure  of  the  cells,  and 
arrangement  of   the  tissue  systems? 

(2)  What  differences  of  distribution  exist  be- 
tween these  root  tissues  and  those  of  the 
stems  earlier   studied? 

53.  A  study  of  the  absorption  of  water  by  plants. 

Structure  of  the  parts  most  concerned  in  absorption : 


342  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

character  of  the  cell  membranes :  substances  inside 
and  outside  of  the  cell.  Can  absorption  of  water 
take  place  as  a  physical  process  under  such  condi- 
tions? This  may  be  determined  by  experiment 
(Experiment  lo).  Comparison  of  the  conditions 
and  results  of  this  experiment  with  those  prevailing 
in  roots. 

Materials.  —  Roots  are  much  alike  as  to  their  external 
structure  and  appearance  (as  is  to  be  expected  from  their 
necessarily  very  uniform  habits),  and  those  developed  from 
any  of  the  common  seeds  are  good.  Radish,  however,  is 
especially  good,  and  the  best  of  material  may  be  obtained 
thus.  Take  a  small,  very  clean  porous  flower-pot  saucer,  and 
place  therein  some  seeds  of  radish  previously  soaked  for  two 
or  three  hours;  cover  with  a  similar  but  inverted  saucer, 
and  stand  in  a  larger  and  similarly-covered  saucer  kept  sup- 
plied with  enough  water  to  hold  the  seed  saucer  thoroughly 
saturated  but  not  overflowed  on  the  bottom.  In  three  days 
the  roots,  and  especially  the  hairs,  will  be  beautifully  de- 
veloped. This  arrangement,  by  the  way,  constitutes  one  of 
the  best  of  germinators,  useful  in  many  ways,  and  is  figured 
herewith  (Fig.  29).  Very  good  also  is  a  flower  pot  inverted 
with  the  hole  stoppered,  and  stood  in  a  saucer  of  water; 
the  soaked  seeds  will  cling  to  the  inner  wall  and  develop 
the  hairs  beautifully.  The  air  should  be  renewed  daily  by 
gently  puffing  it  from  the  germinator.  The  hairs  wilt  quickly 
if  much  exposed  to  the  air,  and  therefore  it  is  best  to  have 
as  few  students  as  possible  use  one  saucer.  It  would  be 
well  also  to  have  a  few  of  the  seeds  sown  at  the  same  time 


THE   ANATOMY   OF    ROOTS 


343 


in  soil  to  illustrate  the  growth  of  the  root  hairs  therein.  Im- 
mersion in  caustic  potash,  of  about  twenty  per  cent  strength, 
will  make  the  roots  translucent,  and  bring  out  clearly  the 
spiral  vessels  and  air  passages,  which  indeed  in  some  roots, 
e.g.  mustard,  show  clearly  without  this  treatment.  Potash 
is  a  very  irritating  and  destructive  substance;  it  should  be 
handled  with  caution,  and  everything  with  which  it  comes 
into  contact  should  afterwards  be  thoroughly  washed. 


??^'.-^^iV//f;'^^^J;^^^5^?^^o:;r■;::^:'^;J,7;^9^\5y^>?-l;^^V;'.c^^J!;??7:; 


v.-  ;;^.Vo^.^?^;^;^•^\;.'■^;;t^-;''^^;"^'^;,''wi:." 
^'^''■---  - 1.'-  ^-^Aii^^. T.i'  ^v-.^' )'-  ■  -oyT.'t  -'.  .c_ ...'  ■-  V.  .■  . . — ,  I  -"ly 

Fig.  29.  —  Germinator  made  from  flower-pot  saucers;  X  J. 


For  the  study  of  the  anatomy  of  the  shaft,  some  of  the 
very  large  roots  of  tropical  plants,  e.g.  Alocasia  odor  a  or  the 
Calla  {Richardia  ajricana)  or  Crinum,  are  best;  but  nearly 
as  good  and  much  more  accessible  are  the  roots  of  hyacinths, 
very  easily  obtained  from  any  potted  plants  when  the  pot 
is  inverted  and  the  plant  jarred  out  into  the  hand.  These 
are  so  large  and  well  differentiated  in  their  anatomy  that 
very  good  sections  can  be  made  with  scalpels  alone  (especially 
if  a  bunch  be  cut  together),  though  of  course  razor  sections 
are  needed  for  the  best  results. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  Like  the  two  preceding  exer- 
cises, this  is  needful  for  an  understanding  of  plant  anatomy, 
while  hke\\dse  an  excellent  exercise  in  observation.     Under 


344 


THE   TEACHING  BOTANIST 


Exercise  51  all  students  should  make  out  the  fact  that  the 
zone  of  root  hairs  advances  with  the  tip,  and  the  method 
thereof;  and  they  should  be  led  to  see  that  the  young  roots 
form  closed  structures  without  any  determinable  openings. 
They  should  further  observe  that  the  ducts  extend  down  to 
the  region  of  the  root  hairs.  The  character  and  meaning  of 
the  growing  point,  and  the  function  and  mode  of  growth  of 
the  protective  cap,  should  also  be  made  plain. 

Physiology.  —  This  subject  of  absorption  naturally  belongs 
•with  the  study  of  roots.  The  teacher  should  lead  up  to  it 
through  a  re\'iew  of  the  laboratory  study  of  the  structure  of 
roots,  pointing  out  that  the  ducts,  which  are  the  water- 
carrying  structures,  come  close  down  to  the  tip,  but  that  no 
openings  from  the  outside  exist;  and  hence  the  water  must 
pass  into  them  through  the  cell  walls,  which  in  turn  exhibit 
no  openings  discoverable  by  the  most  powerful  microscopes. 
Then  he  should  add  the  information  that  the  cells  of  both 
hairs  and  cortex  contain  considerable  sugar  in  solution, 
while  the  water  outside  contains  only  minute  quantities  of 
certain  minerals.  These  are  all  of  the  parts  concerned,  and 
the  question  arises  whether,  under  these  conditions  {e.g. 
where  there  is  a  membrane  with  sugar  solution  on  one  side, 
and  water  on  the  other),  water  will  pass  through  the  mem- 
brane. This  is  readily  tested  by  experiment,  as  foUows: 
Prepare  an  osmoscope  as  shown  in  the  larger  illustration  of 
Fig.  30.  The  membrane  is  supplied  by  parchment  paper 
tubing,  of  40  mm.  diameter,  obtainable  at  insignificant  cost 
from  all  supply  companies.  A  piece  some  15  cm.  long  should 
be  soaked  for  a  few  minutes  in  water,  then  plaited  and  tied 
tightly  with  waxed  thread  at  one  end,  thus  forming  a  cup. 
Then  the  other  end  should  be  tied  tightly  over  a  stopper,  of 


THE   ANATOMY   OF    ROOTS 


345 


suitable  size,  which  must  be  air-tight  (either  through  soak- 
ing in  melted  paraffin,  or,  preferably,  being  rubber).  For 
a  sugar  solution,  molasses,  the  color  of  which  makes  it  readily 
visible,  is  very  suitable ;  and  it  is  to 
be  poured  into  the  cup  through  one 
of  two  holes  left  in  the  stopper. 
Into  one  hole  is  then  inserted  a 
stout  tube  of  about  50  cm.  length 
and  I  mm.  bore  (a  smaller  size 
works  badly  because  of  the  vis- 
cosity of  the  molasses),  which  is 
all  the  better  if  pear-shaped  in  sec- 
tion, therefore  giving  magnification 
to  the  bore,  and  white-backed. 
Into  the  other  hole  is  inserted  a 
small  separatory  funnel,  provided 
with  a  stopcock.  The  cup  is  then 
supported  upright  (conveniently 
effected  by  aid  of  a  cork  stopper 
placed  on  the  long  tube)  in  a  vessel 
of  water,  which,  for  quickest  results 
in  the  experiment,  should  be  luke- 
warm. Enough  water  should  now 
be  poured  into  the  funnel  to  raise 
the  molasses  into  the  tube;  then 
the  stopcock  should  be  closed,  when 
almost  immediately  the  liquid 
should  begin  to  rise  in  the  tube, 
and  should  rise  at  the  rate  of  several  millimeters  per  minute, 
so  that  its  movement  can  actually  be  seen  even  from  a 
considerable  distance.     As   it   nears   the   top   of   the   tube. 


\y 


Fig.  30.  —  Demonstration  Os- 
moscopes;  X  I. 


346  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

the  stopcock  should  be  opened,  when  the  Uquid  Avill  drop 
quickly  back  to  the  starting  point,  to  rise  again  as  before 
when  the  stopcock  is  closed,  and  so  on  indefinitely.  For 
demonstration  of  osmotic  absorption  before  a  class,  this 
instrument  is  extremely  satisfactory,  and,  moreover,  it  may 
be  preserved,  ever  ready  for  immediate  use,  by  removing 
tube  and  funnel  and  keeping  cup  and  stopper  stored  in  a 
bottle  of  molasses;  it  is  only  necessary  to  place  the  cup 
under  a  tap  and  wash  away  the  surplus  molasses,  when  it  is 
again  ready  for  immediate  use.  While  this  instrument  is  so 
good  for  demonstration  to  a  class,  it  works  far  too  quickly 
to  be  useful  for  deliberate  study  by  the  students  in  the  labora- 
tory, nor  does  it  give  any  idea  of  how  long  the  process  could 
go  on,  or  how  much  water  can  thus  be  absorbed.  Hence,  for 
laboratory  study  by  the  students,  it  is  better  to  use  a  form 
Uke  that  of  the  smaller  illustration  in  Fig.  30.  The  cup 
consists  simply  of  a  standard  "diffusion  shell"  (Schleicher 
and  Schuell)  of  16  mm.  diameter,  sold  at  a  cost  of  about 
twenty-five  cents  by  all  supply  companies;  it  should  be  tied 
tightly,  after  soaking,  to  a  tube  of  approximately  the  same 
external  diameter.  If  the  cup  be  filled  with  molasses,  the 
water  will  enter  and  the  liquid  will  rise,  rapidly  at  first  and 
then  more  slowly,  for  about  a  week,  reaching  a  height  of 
over  a  meter;  and  this  forms  a  rather  impressive  exhibition 
of  osmotic  absorption.  Before  the  experiment  is  ended,  the 
hquids  will  ferment,  which  produces  bad  odors;  but  fer- 
mentation can  be  prevented  by  the  addition  of  two  per  cent  of 
formaline  to  both  molasses  and  water.  The  cup,  when  washed 
clean,  may  be  preserved  dry  and  used  repeatedly.  If  one 
attaches  the  cup  to  a  short  tube,  connected  by  a  stopper  to  a 
slender  tube,  the  liquid  may  be  sent  to  a  height  of  several  feet. 


THE   ANATOMY   OF   ROOTS  347 

In  this  experiment,  some  of  the  molasses  comes  out  into 
the  water,  as  the  color  will  show,  and  as  can  be  further  proven 
by  the  appUcation  of  Fehling's  test  for  sugar,  if  the  teacher 
thinks  it  worth  while.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  which  the  stu- 
dent will  surmise  and  the  teacher  can  confirm,  that  the  sugar 
in  roots  does  not  come  out  into  the  soil ;  and  thus  is  shown  a 
difference  between  the  parchment  membrane  and  that  of 
the  root  hair.  This  difference  is  found  in  the  existence  of 
the  protoplasmic  membrane  lining  the  wall  of  the  root  hair, 
which  membrane  has  the  power  of  permitting  the  passage 
of  water  while  preventing  the  passage  of  sugar.  For  this 
reason  such  a  membrane  is  called  semi-permeable  in  distinc- 
tion from  membranes  like  the  parchment  which  is  permeable 
to  both  substances.  It  is  entirely  possible  to  make  semi- 
permeable membranes  artificially,  from  certain  chemicals; 
and  such  a  membrane  can  be  formed  over  the  inside  of  the 
parchment  cup,  after  which  no  sugar  \xi\\  escape  from  the 
cup,  and  the  liquid  will  rise  very  much  higher.  Thus,  if  the 
cup,  after  attachment  to  the  tube,  is  soaked  for  twenty-four 
hours  in  a  three  per  cent  solution  of  copper  sulphate:  is 
emptied  and  lightly  rinsed  with  water:  is  filled  with  a  three 
per  cent  solution  of  potassium  ferrocyanide  (care  being  used 
in  handling,  for  it  is  poisonous) :  is  placed  back  in  the 
copper  sulphate  for  another  twenty-four  hours:  is  emptied 
and  filled  \nth  molasses,  and  stood  in  water,  the  semi-per- 
meable membrane  is  usually  efficient.  The  matter  is  perhaps 
too  special  for  introduction  into  this  course;  the  teacher  will 
find  more  detailed  practical  directions  on  the  subject,  if  he 
wants  them,  in  my  work  on  Plant  Physiology. 

The  student  will  probably  remark,  as  a  result  of  his  earlier 
study  of  sap  ascent,  that  there  is  another  marked  difference 


348  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

between  the  conditions  of  these  experiments  and  those  of 
the  roots,  viz.  in  the  tubes  the  rising  Uquid  is  a  mixture 
of  sugar  and  water,  while  in  the  ducts  of  the  plant  it  is  only- 
pure  water.  And  he  will  probably  infer  that  this  difference 
is  connected  with  the  fact  that  in  the  tubes  there  is  no  break 
in  communication  between  membrane  and  tube,  while  in  the 
roots  there  is  interposed  a  series  of  closed  cells.  In  some 
way,  therefore,  the  sugar  is  stopped  in  the  cells,  allowing 
only  water  to  pass.  The  exact  physical  basis  of  this  is  not 
yet  understood,  and  in  fact  remains  the  greatest  puzzle  in 
connection  with  this  whole  subject  of  water  ascent.  But  in 
a  general  way  there  is  no  question  that  the  absorption  of 
water  by  roots,  and  of  water  by  an  osmoscope,  especially  if 
the  latter  be  provided  with  a  semi-permeable  membrane,  is 
the  same  physical  process. 

XIV.    The  Structure  of  Flowers 

54.  Study  the  structure  of  the  Scilla  flower. 

(i)  Of    what    distinct    parts,    visible    without 
dissection,  is  it  made  up? 

(2)  In  what  positions  relatively  to  one  another 

are  these  arranged? 

(3)  How  much  of  structure  can  you  see  in  each  ? 

(4)  What  is  the  structure  of  the  ovary  as  re- 

vealed by  sections? 

In  addition  to  drawings,  construct  a  diagram  to  show  in 
ideal  horizontal  section  the  ground  plan  of  the  flower, 
and  another  to  show  it  in  ideal  vertical  section,  using 
semi-conventional  symbols  {to   he  explained),  for  the 


THE    STRUCTURE   OF    FLOWERS  349 

structures.  In  each  structure  represent  the  section  as 
passing  through  the  most  typical  part.  The  two  dia- 
grams are  to  be  complementary  to  one  another,  and 
one  need  not  repeat  facts  shown  by  the  other. 

55.  Study  in  the  method  of  54,  and  diagram,  the  struc- 
ture of  the  Tulip  flower. 
Can  you  homologize  the  parts  of  this  flower  (and  of 
the  Scilla)  with  the  structures  produced  by  an 
ordinary  bud,  in  the  place  of  which  you  have 
found  that  flowers  originate? 
Study  the  structure  of  the  essential  parts  of  the  flower, 
viz.  ovule  and  pollen. 

I.  From  thin  sections  made  across  the  ovary,  deter- 

mine with  aid  of  the  microscope,  — ■ 

(i)  What  is  the  structure  of  the    coats    and 
interior  of  the  ovule  ? 

(2)  Do  you  find  any  parts  answering  to  those 

in  seeds? 

(3)  What  structure  has  the  embryo  sac,  espe- 

cially as  to  any  free  cells  therein? 

II.  From  pollen  placed  on  a  slide,  determine,  — 

(i)  What    visible    structure    does    the    grain 

exhibit  ? 
(2)  What  change  occurs  when  water  is  added? 
56.  A  study  of  osmotic  absorption  by  roots. 

Results  of  the  preceding  experiment  suggest  that 
if  the  absorption  by  roots  is  osmotic,  then  water 


350  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

ought  to  rise  in  tubes  attached  to  roots.  This 
is  easily  tested  by  experiment  (Experiment  ii). 
Relation  of  such  water  ascent  to  "bleeding."  Its 
rise  against  gravitation  suggests  that  pressure  is 
exerted ;  our  knowledge  thereon ;  possible  relation 
to  the  causes  of  sap  ascent. 

Materials.  —  Other  things  being  equal,  it  is  obviously 
best  to  take  up  the  study  of  flower  and  fruit  at  this  point, 
following  right  after  the  study  of  the  other  plant  organs, 
leaf,  stem,  root;  but  an  alternative  plan,  which  various  con- 
siderations, especially  as  to  supply  of  materials,  might  justify, 
would  be  to  begin  here  the  study  of  the  groups,  post- 
poning the  flower  and  fruit  until  they  are  reached  again  with 
the  Phanerogams  in  the  late  spring.  If  taken  in  winter,  as 
here  recommended,  the  common  Squill,  Scilla  siberica,  is  the 
simplest  and  most  typical  plant  available.  It  is  easy  to  raise 
in  shallow  boxes;  the  bulbs,  each  supplying  several  flowers, 
are  cheap,  and  any  skilful  gardener  can  have  them  ready  on 
a  given  date.  Tulips  are  good,  but  much  more  expensive. 
Next  best  is  Hyacinth,  the  single  white  Roman  kind,  but 
this  is  much  less  simple  and  typical,  and,  for  beginning,  it 
is  best  to  have  a  flower  with  floral  parts  distinct ;  and  one  with 
superior  ovary  is  indispensable.  Hyacinths  are  grown  for  sale 
in  most  greenhouses,  and  flower  so  abundantly  they  are  not 
expensive.  In  summer  many  simple  forms  may  be  collected 
and  preserved  in  formahne,  or  even  dried  and  pressed,  but 
in  the  latter  case  they  must  be  soaked  out  in  warm  water, 
and  are  far  inferior  to  fresh  flowers.  It  would  be  a  tactical 
error  for  any  teacher  to  give  a  pressed  flower  to  a  pupil  to 


THE   STRUCTURE    OF   FLOWERS  351 

begin  with.  If  the  work  comes  in  early  summer,  the  Trillium 
is  one  of  the  best  plants  to  use  first,  but  it  may  not  be  as 
easy  to  obtain  good  simple  materials  in  the  summer  woods 
as  in  the  winter  greenhouse.  For  the  study  of  pollen  and 
ovules,  Hyacinth  or  Tulip  are  good.  A  number  of  thin  sec- 
tions made  right  across  the  young  ovary  of  either  are  pretty 
sure  to  show  some  good  embryo  sacs,  with  an  occasional 
well-displayed  egg  cell,  a  good  specimen  of  which  can  then 
be  requisitioned  from  its  fortunate  maker,  not  at  all  to  his 
dissatisfaction,  for  use  as  a  demonstration  object  for  the  others. 
Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  is  of  course  intended 
to  introduce  the  student  to  the  very  important  subject  of 
floral  structure,  and  the  facts  thereof  must  receive  first  at- 
tention. At  this  stage  of  their  training,  the  students  should 
be  able,  without  special  help,  to  work  out  fully  and  correctly 
the  structure  of  such  a  flower  as  the  Scilla,  and  to  represent 
it  well.  They  should  not  miss  such  points  as  that  three  of 
the  perianth  parts  are  outside  of  the  other  three,  that  there 
are  three  cells  to  the  ovary,  that  the  ovules  are  on  a  central 
placenta,  and  that  the  anthers  contain  pollen.  But  too 
much  detail,  such  as  kinds  of  ovules,  dehiscence  of  anthers, 
etc.,  must  not  be  expected  at  this  stage,  else  confusion  will 
result  and  proportion  be  destroyed.  Terms  for  the  principal 
parts,  —  perianth,  petals,  sepals,  etc.,  —  and  especially  for  the 
conditions  of  union  of  parts,  —  gamopetalous,  gamophyllous 
(for  parts  of  a  perianth),  etc.,  —  should  not  be  given  until  the 
need  for  them  has  been  felt.  The  early  study  of  pollen  and 
ovule  is  extremely  important  as  helping  to  impress  upon 
students  a  knowledge  of  the  real  essentials  in  the  flower.  The 
construction  of  the  diagrams  is  the  most  important  peda- 
gogical part  of  this  exercise.     They  will  be  spoken  of  below. 


352  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

In  morphology,  especially  as  called  for  under  Exercise  55, 
the  students  should  of  themselves  recognize  that  receptacle 
is  stem  which  remains  short,  and  that  petals  and  sepals 
represent  leaves;  but  the  morphology  of  stamen  and  pistil, 
particularly  anthers  and  ovules,  will  puzzle  them.  They 
should  be  allowed,  or,  if  necessary,  led,  to  see  that  the  latter 
are  not  homologous  with  anything  they  have  yet  studied;  in 
fact  they  are  as  distinct  from  leaf  or  stem  as  these  are  from 
root,  and  they  are  older  than  the  leaf  or  the  stem,  as  dis- 
cussed on  an  earlier  page  (230).  They  are  sporangia  contain- 
ing spores,  an  inheritance  from  the  non-flowering  plants,  with 
certain  appendages  added.  In  fact,  though  of  course  this  is 
not  to  be  given  the  students  in  detail,  the  ovule  (more  exactly, 
its  nucellus)  is  a  spore  case  containing  a  single  spore  (mega- 
spore  or  embryo  sac)  whose  germination  produces  the  egg- 
cell,  the  whole  being  surrounded  by  one  or  two  protective 
coats.  The  anther  is  a  spore  case  containing  spores  (micro- 
spores or  pollen  grains),  whose  germination  produces  ulti- 
mately the  pollen  tube  with  its  contents.  The  pistil  is  com- 
posed of  infolded  leaves  with  the  spore  cases  on  their 'edges. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  try  to  homologize  the  ovary,  style,  and  fila- 
ment, with  blade  or  petiole  of  a  leaf,  for  the  differentiation 
into  blade  and  petiole  is  an  attribute  of  the  foliage  leaf  only, 
not  of  the  spore-bearing  leaves,  which,  it  is  possible,  have 
not  been  derived  at  all  from  foliage  leaves  (see  p.  230).  I 
have  found  it  in  my  own  experience  most  profitable  to  teach 
the  correct  morphology  of  these  parts,  including  ovule  and 
pollen  grain,  from  the  start;  students  understand  it  as  readily 
as  they  do  the  older  formal  and  partly  incorrect  morphology, 
and  they  have  nothing  to  unlearn  later. 

It  is  usually  assumed  that  a  perianth  tube,  such  as  the 


THE   STRUCTURE   OF    FLOWERS  353 

Hyacinth  exhibits,  is  composed  of  united  petals  and  sepals; 
but  this  view,  as  earUer  explained  (p.  235)  is  probably  in- 
correct, since  the  tube  does  not  develop  as  a  result  of  fusion 
of  the  bases  of  petals  and  sepals,  but  as  one  continuous  ring- 
like structure  which  carries  up  the  original  petals  and 
sepals  (i.e.  the  free  petal  and  sepal  lobes)  at  its  top.  The 
point  is  important  for  an  understanding  of  the  composition 
of  complex  flowers. 

The  function  of  pollen  and  oxnjle  can  best  be  made  plain 
through  an  account,  fully  illustrated  by  diagrams,  of  the 
process  of  fertilization,  and  the  teacher  may  convey  an  item 
of  very  valuable  knowledge  by  remarking  that  this  process- 
is  identical  in  its  physiological  essentials  and  meaning  through- 
out the  animal  as  well  as  the  vegetable  kingdom.  The  func- 
tion of  calyx  is  easily  shown  by  reference  to  buds,  where  it  is 
obviously  a  protective  wrapping  to  the  yoimg  parts.  As 
to  the  corolla,  its  function  should  be  stated  in  a  general 
way;  but,  in  order  not  to  confuse  the  student  by  the  intro- 
duction of  too  many  new  matters  at  once,  the  discussion  of 
its  meaning  in  detail  should  be  left  untU  later,  when,  also, 
more  data  ^^ill  be  available. 

Like  most  other  teachers,  I  have  used  blank  forms  for  de- 
scription of  flowers,  but,  because  there  are  better  ways, 
I  have  abandoned  them.  One  might  suppose  that  the  use 
of  floral  diagrams  involves  some  of  the  same  disadvantages, 
but  in  practice  this  does  not  follow. 

Of  great  value  in  the  study  of  flowers  is  the  representa- 
tion of  the  fundamental  facts  of  their  structure  by  horizontal 
and  vertical  diagrams  as  called  for  under  Exercise  54.  These 
are  intended  to  represent,  not  superficial  features  of  form, 
etc.,  so  much  as  fundamental  relations  of  number,  relative 

2  A 


354 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


position,  coalescence,  etc.  Ground  plans  for  this  purpose 
are  given  in  a)!  works  upon  floral  structures,  but  the  equally 
useful  vertical  plan  is  much  less  used.  Of  course  the  teacher 
must  give  some  preliminary  suggestions  as  to  their  value 
and  the  general  mode  of  their  construction.  As  an  example, 
these  diagrams  are  here  given  for  Scilla  and  Hyacinth 
(Figs.  31,  32).     The  following  principles  should  be  observed 


Fig.  31.  —  Diagrams  of  Scilla  Flower.     Receptacle  dotted;  carpels  cross-lined; 
petals  black;  sepals  and  stamens  unshaded. 

in  their  construction.  The  two  kinds  are  complementary  to 
one  another,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  try  to  show  in  one 
anything  already  brought  out  in  the  other,  although 
such  duplication  is  desirable  so  far  as  it  does  not 
interfere  with  clearness.  Relations  of  number,  alterna- 
tion, and  coalescence  of  like  parts  are  brought  out  in 
the  horizontal,  and  general  form  and  adnation  of  un- 
Uke  parts  in  the  vertical.  Somewhat  conventionalized  forms 
and  shadings,  as  shown  by  the  accompanying  examples, 
can  be  used  to  distinguish  the  parts;  though  the  students  in 
their  work  will  find  it  possible,  and  better,  to  use  colors,  as 


THE   STRUCTURE    OF   FLOWERS 


355 


soft  and  pleasing  as  possible,  applied  by  colored  pencils. 
The  actual  form  should  be  kept  in  so  far  as  may  be  possible 
without  interfering  with  the  clearness  of  representation  of 
the  more  essential  features.  The  diagrams  should  be  con- 
structed with  the  most  rigid  exactness,  every  spot  and  line 
having  its  meaning,  and  no  confusion  of  lines  should  be  per- 
mitted.    Particularly   important   is    the   insertion   of   parts 


^"^ 


Fig.  32.  —  Diagram  of  Hyacinth  Flower.     The  vertical  lines  show  the  perianth 
tube;  other  shading  as  in  Fig.  31. 

upon  the  receptacle  and  upon  one  another;  and  lines  should 
not  be  allowed  to  touch  one  another  in  the  diagram  except 
in  order  to  represent  parts  grown  together  in  the  flower. 
The  help  of  compasses,  etc.,  should  be  allowed,  and  required, 
if  necessary  to  make  them  symmetrical.  Teachers  should 
remember,  however,  that  while  these  diagrams  are  extremely 
useful  servants,  they  are  bad  masters.  In  my  own  experience 
I  have  found  nothing  to  equal  them  for  compelhng  clear 
thinking  on  the  part  of  the  student. 


356  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

Physiology.  —  The  absorption  of  water  by  roots,  quite 
independently  of  any  influence  exerted  by  transpiration 
or  other  activities  of  stems  and  leaves,  is  easily  dem- 
onstrated as  follows:  Select  a  vigorous  well-rooted  plant, 
not  yet  mature  and  having  a  single  firm  smooth  stem 
{e.g.  Fuchsia,  Marguerite,  Horseshoe  Geranium,  Heliotrope), 
and  cut  away  the  stem  about  2  cm.  from  the  ground :  over  the 
stump  slip  a  tightly  clasping  *  piece  of  soft  rubber  tubing 
which  is  cut  so  as  to  leave  1-2  cm.  projecting;  into  this  pro- 
jecting tube  slip  a  glass  tube  of  approximately  the  same 
diameter,  and  of  about  100  cc.  capacity,  preferably  gradu- 
ated, and  make  sure  that  the  joints  are  tight  by  gripping 
them  with  wire  if  needful.  If  now  the  plant  is  given  a  suffi- 
ciency of  water  and  good  temperature,  the  water  will  rise  to 
an  amount  which  with  some  plants  may  fill  the  tube,  i.e. 
100  cc.  Certain  plants,  indeed,  among  them  some  species 
of  Begonia,  will  give  off  much  more  than  this,  even  ap- 
proaching 200  cc.  in  vigorous  plants  of  ordinary  potted  size. 
It  is  worth  while  to  place  a  little  oil  on  the  water  in  order 
that  none  of  tliis  may  be  lost  by  evaporation.  This  experi- 
ment (which,  incidentally,  illustrates  the  nature  of  the 
"  bleeding  "  of  grapevines  when  pruned  too  late  in  spring, 
or  of  trees  whose  young  branches  are  winter-broken),  shows 
the  quantity  of  water  which  is  exuded,  and  therefore,  in  a 
general  way,  absorbed  by  the  roots.  Its  rise  against  gravi- 
tation shows  that  pressure  is  exerted,  but  no  idea  is  given 
of  the  power  or  pressure  by  which  the  water  is  absorbed  and 
forced  up  stems.  The  latter  matter  can  be  settled  by  experi- 
ment, though  the  manipulation  is  not  easy.  The  experi- 
ment, commonly  figured  in  the  current  text-books,  making 
use  of  a  large  open  pothook-shaped  gauge,  is  entirely  value- 


THE   STRUCTURE   OF    FLOWERS 


357 


K«A 


less  for  this  purpose,  and  is  perpetuated  only  because  of  a 
confusion  in  the  minds  of  most  persons  between  the  quantity 
of  water  sent  up  stems  by  roots,  and  the  pressure  under  which 
it  is  forced  up.  These  are,  in  reality,  two  totally  different 
phenomena ;  the  quantity 
may  be  so  small  as  to  push 
the  mercury  in  one  of  the 
aforesaid  gauges  only  a  very 
short  distance,  which  would 
then  be  taken  to  mean  a  very 
low  pressure,  whereas  the 
pressure  under  which  this 
small  quantity  is  given  off 
may  really  be  very  high. 
The  only  correct  way  to 
measure  these  pressures, 
therefore,  is  to  use  gauges 
which  will  register  very  high 
pressures  with  a  very  small 
quantity  of  water.  Best  for 
this  purpose  are  small  closed 
gauges,  for  whose  construc- 
tion and  use  full  directions  are 

given  in  my  book  on  Plant  Fig.  33.  — Apparatus  for  the  demon- 
_,       .   ,  ,  ,  ^  stration  of  Root  Pressure ;  X  J. 

Physiology;  but  they  are  not 

very  effective  for  demonstration.  Much  better  for  the  latter 
purpose  is  an  open  but  slender  mercury  gauge  used  in  con- 
nection with  a  plant  known  to  exude  ample  water  to  force 
the  mercury  to  a  point  sufficient  to  register  its  greatest  pos- 
sible pressure.  Such  a  gauge,  which  has  to  be  made  to  order 
at  present,  but  which  will  presently  be  supplied  among  my 


358  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

normal  apparatus  (mentioned  on  p.  134),  is  shown  by  the 
accompanying  figure,  Fig.  7,7,.  It  is  of  glass  barometer 
tubing,  8  mm.  external  and  2  mm.  internal  bore,  with  a  mer- 
cury reservoir  bulb  and  stopcock  as  shown  by  the  figure, 
and  a  main  tube  over  30  inches  long.  The  stopcock  is  added, 
partly  to  prevent  danger  of  jarring  the  mercury  out  of  the 
short  tube  during  handling,  and  partly  to  prevent  evapora- 
tion of  the  water  above  the  mercury  when  the  instrument 
is  not  in  use,  for  it  is  somewhat  troublesome  to  fill  this  part 
in  a  way  to  exclude  air.  The  filling,  by  the  way,  is  accom- 
plished by  tipping  the  tube  and  jarring  the  mercury  while 
the  short  tube  is  immersed  in  water  boiled  to  free  it  of  air. 
The  plants  best  adapted  to  this  experiment  are  Fuchsia, 
Marguerite,  Horseshoe  Geranium;  and  the  quantities,  both 
of  exudation  and  pressure,  which  they  yield,  have  been  deter- 
mined and  are  stated,  along  with  the  data  for  many  other 
plants  and  with  other  particulars  concerning  this  experiment, 
by  SoPHi.A.  EcKERSON,  in  the  Botanical  Gazette,  45,  1908,  50. 
The  short  tube,  first  filled  with  water,  is  attached  to  the  cut 
stump  of  the  plant  by  tight  rubber  tubing,  which  is  then 
wired  firmly  to  tube  and  plant  and  enwrapped  by  several 
turns  of  electrician's  (or  tire)  tape  to  make  a  pressure-tight 
joint,  as  shown  diagrammatically  in  the  figure.  Then  the 
stopcock  is  opened,  and  the  rising  water  will  slowly  force  up 
the  mercury  until  its  weight  balances  the  pressure.  Then 
the  difference  in  level  of  the  mercury  in  reservoir  and  tube 
shows  the  pressure  expressed  in  fractions  of  an  atmosphere, 
which  of  course  is  approximately  15  pounds  to  30  inches  of 
height.  Some  common  greenhouse  plants,  as  Miss  Ecker- 
son's  experiments  have  shown,  give  an  atmosphere,  or  over, 
of  pressure. 


THE    MORPHOLOGY   OF   FLOWERS  359 

XV.   The  Morphology  of  Flowers 

57.  Study  the  structure,  comparatively,  of  a  series  of  flowers 

of  progressively  increasing  complexity  of  structure, 
e.g.  Hyacinth,  Snowdrop,  Narcissus,  Primrose, 
Fuchsia,  Cineraria,  and  express  their  composition  in 
the  horizontal  and  vertical  diagrams. 

58.  Study   in   like   manner,   and   diagram,  two  or  three 

irregular  flowers,  e.g.  Cytisus,  or  Chorizema. 

59.  Construct  a  series  of  diagrams,  using  colors,  to  show 

the  intermediate  stages  in  the  development  from  a 
simple  conical  vegetative  point  of — ■ 

a.  A  flower  with  all  parts  distinct. 

h.  A  flower  with  superior  ovary,  but  the  other 
parts  standing  on  a  tube. 

c.  A  flower  with   inferior  ovary,  but  other  parts 

distinct. 

d.  A  flower  with  inferior  ovary,  but  other  parts 

standing  on  a  tube. 

60.  Study  a  series  of  a  dozen   specialized   flowers,   and 

determine  the  morphological  identity  of  each  part. 

61.  A  study  of  common  osmotic  phenomena. 

The  facts  as  to  osmotic  movement  between  liquids 
of  different  densities,  and  osmotic  pressures  which 
can  be  exerted;  relation  of  osmotic  pressure  to 
turgidity  and  the  maintenance  of  form  in  the  plant: 
other  common  osmotic  phenomena. 


360  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

Materials.  —  The   flowers   named   in   Exercise  57  are  all 
obtainable  at  moderate  cost  from  commercial    greenhouses 
in  late  ^vinter,  and  with  little  trouble  may  be  forced  in  one's 
own  greenhouses  so  as  to  be  ready  at  any  desired  date.    They 
represent  a  series  sho\\ing  progressively  increasing  complexity 
of  the  flower  up  to  the  most  speciaHzed  condition  of  all,  and 
it  is  worth  while  to  take  considerable  trouble  to  obtain  them. 
The  irregular  flowers  of  Exercise   58,   found  in   all  green- 
houses, are  less  important,  and  are  introduced  chiefly  as  a 
study  in  the  diagramming  of  irregular  kinds.       Exercise  60 
is  valuable  for  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  range  of  mor- 
phological modification  in  the  parts  of  the  flower  and  for 
practice  in  the  recognition  thereof;    admirable  material  is 
furnished  by  specialized  flowers  present  in  any  greenhouse  — 
Begonia,  Calla,  Orchids,  Poinsettia,  etc.     As  they  need  not 
be  dissected,  or  only  partially,  a  few  will  supply  many  stu- 
dents.    And   of   course   museum   material  and  pictures  are 
available  as  supplementary  illustration. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  work  leads  the  student 
from  the  structure  of  flowers  to  a  consideration  of  their  com- 
parative morphology.  The  question  of  the  morphological 
composition  of  the  wall  of  the  inferior  ovary  must  be  faced. 
Students  may  best  he  introduced  thereto  by  stating  to  them 
the  fact,  illustrated  by  diagrams,  that  every  flower,  no  matter 
how  speciaHzed,  originates  as  a  set  of  originally  distinct 
leaves  on  a  conical  receptacle;  let  them  reason  from  this  in 
the  case  of  the  Snowdrop,  and  if  they  are  not  previously 
prejudiced  by  the  calyx-adnate-to-the-ovary  theory,  they 
vv-ill  readily  see  that  the  stamens,  petals,  and  sepals  must 
stand  on  the  receptacle,  which  therefore  must  form  the  wall 
of  the  ovary  by  growing  up  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  cup, 


THE  MORPHOLOCY  OF  FLOWERS        361 

while  the  carpels  form  the  roof  over  it,  as  well  as  the  parti- 
tions. This  is  the  morphology  which  embryology  sustains, 
although  some  students  consider  that  the  carpels  continue 
to  line  the  hollow  receptacle  throughout.  The  fact,  however, 
probably  is  that  in  such  highly  specialized  ovaries,  the  old 
distinctness  between  carpel  and  receptacle  has  been  lost,  — • 
merged  into  the  new  morphological  unit,  ovary.  In  the 
Fuchsia  the  morphology  of  the  ovary  is  the  same,  but  here,  in 
addition,  a  tube  is  formed  after  the  manner  already  mentioned 
for  the  Hyacinth  and  Primrose.  In  the  composite  flower 
the  morphology  is  very  like  that  of  Narcissus  and  Fuchsia, 
i.e.  the  ovary  is  a  hollowed-out  receptacle  -on  the  top  of 
which  stand  the  sepals  (often  finely  di\ided  into  a  pappus) 
and  the  corolla  tube. 

In  diagramining  these  more  complicated  flowers,  it  is 
more  needful  than  before  to  use  shading  or  coloring  consist- 
ently for  the  different  parts ;  and  a  uniform  system,  to  be  re- 
placed by  colors  in  class  work,  is  shown  in  the  accompanying 
figures  (Figs.  31,32,  34).  In  diagramming  the  irregular  flowers, 
as  the  Cytisus,  a  part  of  the  irregularity  can  be  shown,  but 
it  must  never  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  clearness  of  the 
ground  plans.  Models  for  the  horizontal  diagrams  of  such 
flowers  are  contained  in  Le  Maout  and  Decaisne's  General 
System  of  Botany  and  in  Eichler's  Bliitendiagramme  (of 
which  a  translation  is  announced  as  soon  to  appear  from  the 
Clarendon  Press). 

Along  with  the  study  of  the  flowers  used  in  these  exercises 
the  teacher  should  begin  to  call  attention  to  features  con- 
nected with  cross  poUination,  e.g.  the  great  nectar  glands 
of  Fuchsia,  and  he  may  use  these  matters  to  arouse  curi- 
osity, or  at  all  events  excite  interest,  preparatory  to  the 
more  definite  study  of  the  subject  to  come  later. 


362 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


One  of  the  most  valuable  of  all  morphological  studies  is 
that  involved  in  Exercise  59.  It  cannot,  it  is  true,  be  worked 
out  from  observation,  but  must  be  developed  theoretically, 


Fig.  34.  —  Diagrams  of  Fuchsia  Flower.     Shading  as  in  Figs.  31  and  32. 
The  sepals  are  disconnected  in  order  to  show  that  they  are  in  a  different  plane. 

with  aid  of  considerable  explanation  from  the  teacher,  along 
the  Unes  indicated  by  the  accompanying  diagrams  (Fig.  35). 
All  flowers  originate  in  the  bud  in  substantially  the  same 
way,  and  these  diagrams  show  the  development,  through 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   OF   FLOWERS 


3^3 


B 


C 


^*^' 


D 


Fig.  35.  —  Diagrams  to  illustrate  the  development  of  typical  Flowers.  A, 
hypogynous;  B,  perigynous;  C,  epigynous;  D,  epigynous  with  prolonged 
"calyx  tube."  Receptacle  is  dotted;  carpels  are  cross-lined;  "perianth 
tube,"  or  "calyx  tube,"  vertically  lined.  Sepals,  petals,  and  stamens  are 
unshaded,  but  may  be  distinguished  by  their  relative  positions. 


364  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

two  intermediate  stages,  of  the  four  types  from  similar 
buds.  In  order,  however,  not  to  interfere  with  the  clear- 
ness of  the  developmental  idea,  the  calyx  and  corolla  are 
represented  alike  on  the  two  sides  of  the  diagram,  though 
they  are  rarely  thus  symmetrical  in  the  actual  flowers. 
This  exercise  requires  use  of  the  vizualizing  imagina- 
tion to  the  extent  of  almost  mathematical  clearness.  A 
student  cannot  construct  these  diagrams  who  does  not  really 
understand  the  morphology  of  the  complex  flowers.  Series 
A  is  about  Uke  the  Scilla,  except  that  it  is  supposed  to  have 
calyx  and  corolla  unUke  one  another;  B  is  not  like  any  of 
the  flowers  studied,  but  is  nearest  like  the  Hyacinth  except 
for  the  difi'erent  appearance  of  calyx  and  corolla;  C  is  like 
the  Snowdrop,  and  D  like  the  Fuchsia.  This  morphology 
differs  much  from  that  found  in  the  older  books  and  retained 
in  works  on  taxonomy,  but  is  more  nearly  correct,  as  shown 
by  embryological  studies. 

Physiology.  —  It  is  of  importance  and  interest  to  apply 
the  knowledge  of  osmotic  processes  gained  by  the  preceding 
experiments  to  the  explanation  of  some  common  phenomena. 
Of  these  the  most  striking  is  the  maintenance  of  turgidity 
by  osmotic  absorption  into  soft  cells,  to  which  is  due  the 
stififness  which  young  leaves,  stems,  etc.,  present.  The 
osmotic  basis  of  this  stifTness  can  readily  be  proven  by  a 
simple  experiment  as  follows.  Soak  a  piece  of  parchment- 
paper  tubing,  some  15  cm.  long,  for  a  few  minutes  in  water, 
and  tie  one  end  to  a  stoppered  tube  (e.g.  upper  half  of  a  vial) 
and  the  other  to  a  small  stopcock.  Through  the  vial,  nearly 
fill  the  tube  with  a  mixture  of  half  molasses  half  water,  and 
insert  the  stopper  very  tightly;  then  open  the  stopcock  and 
release  all  air,  after  which  it  is  to  be  closed.    The  tube  should 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   OF   FLOWERS 


365 


now  be  supported  by  the  middle  on  a  piece  of  tape,  from 
which  it  should  hang  limply  as  shown  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  accompanying  figure  (Fig.  36).  If  now  it  be  suspended 
in  a  glass  dish  of  clear  lukewarm  water,  it  will,  within  an 
hour,  stiffen  out  as  shown  by  the  upper  part  of  the  figure, 
while  its  state  of  tense  rigidity  may  be  tested,  in  part  by 
feeHng  the  parchment,  and  in  part  by  the  result  of  opening 


Fig.  36. — Arrangement  for  demonstration  of  Osmotic  Turgescence;  X  g. 


the  stopcock.  It  may  of  course  be  used  repeatedly,  the 
pressure  being  relieved  through  the  stopcock,  until  the 
molasses  has  become  very  weak,  and  it  may  be  kept  stored 
in  a  bottle  of  molasses  always  ready  for  new  use.  The  ex- 
periment, however,  is  one  for  demonstration  rather  than 
detailed  study.  This  experiment  shows  the  turgidity  that 
can  result  from  osmotic  pressure:  the  correlative  fact,  that 
a  reduction  of  osmosic  pressure  destroys  turgidity,  can  be 
proven  for  young  leaves  or  stems  simply  by  immersing  them 
for  a  time  in  any  solution  of  a  strength  markedly  greater 


366  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

than  that  of  their  own  sap,  such,  e.g.,  as  a  solution  of  com- 
mon salt,  of  about  ten  per  cent  strength.  When  collapsed 
by  the  treatment,  they  may  often  be  restored  by  immersion 
again  in  pure  water. 

Another  experiment  of  much  interest  in  this  connection, 
hardly  adapted,  however,  for  general  class  use,  is  that  show- 
ing plasmolysis  of  cells  (that  is,  the  shrinking  of  their  pro- 
toplasmic membranes  away  from  the  cell  walls  when  im- 
mersed in  solutions  stronger  than  the  cell  sap),  for  which 
directions  are  given  in  the  practical  works. 

Other  osmotic  phenomena  of  importance  are  the  bursting 
or  collapsing,  respectively,  of  berries  cooked  with  much  or 
little  sugar;  the  plumpness  of  cooked  currants  or  raisins  in 
comparison  with  their  collapsed  condition  when  dry:  the 
swelling  of  soaked  seeds,  powerful  enough  to  burst  bottles 
or  lift  heavy  weights  (though  this  swelling  at  first  is  not 
wholly  osmotic) :  the  preserving  power  of  strong  solutions  of 
sugar  (which  is  not  poisonous  to  germs  but  withdraws  water, 
preventing  their  growth) :  while  the  power  of  delicate  roots, 
or  some  kinds  of  Fungi,  to  penetrate  hard  soil  and  even  to 
burst  pavements  or  lift  stones  is  due  to  the  same  power. 

The  exact  physical  basis  of  osmotic  pressure  is  not  yet 
certainly  known,  but  the  simplest  explanation,  and  one  quite 
as  Ukely  as  any  other  to  be  correct,  is  that  it  rests  on  a  power- 
ful adhesive  attraction  between  the  dissolved  substance  and 
water,  sufficient  to  permit  the  substance  to  draw  the  water 
away  from  the  membrane,  which  itself  powerfully  absorbs 
a  new  supply  from  outside.  The  membrane  acts  chiefly  as 
a  kind  of  sieve,  permitting  the  water  molecules  to  pass  some- 
what freely  between  its  own  molecules,  or  other  elements  of 
which  it  is  made  up,  while  rendering  difficult  the  passage  of 


THE   ECOLOGY   OF   FLOWERS,  367 

the  much  larger  sugar  molecules ;  and  when  the  membrane  is 
semi-permeable  it  renders  this  passage  impossible.  This  ex- 
planation, it  is  true,  is  a  conventional  rather  than  a  strictly 
physical  one;  but  the  elaborate  physical  study  of  the  process 
is  out  of  place  in  this  course. 

XVI.   The  Ecology  of  Flowers 

62.  Study  the  various  flowers  accessible,  and  note  their 

features  of  form,  size,  color,  shape,  and  special 
mechanical  arrangements,  in  relation  to  probable 
or  possible  methods  of  cross  pollination. 

63.  Study  the  flower  clusters,  and  determine,  — 

(i)   In  what  positions  do    the   younger    flowers 
stand,   relatively   to   the  older? 
Invent  suitable  diagrams  for  representing  these  arrange- 
ments. 

(2)  Can  you  trace  any  connection  between  the 

size  of  a  cluster,  and  the  size  or  number 
of  blossoms  composing  it  ? 

(3)  What  probable  adaptations  to    cross   polli- 

nation can  you  find  in    the   construction 
of  the  clusters? 

64.  A  study  of  plant  growth. 

General  phenomena  of  growth  in  plants:  two  phases, 
—  increase  in  size,  and  formation  of  new  parts ; 
position  of  most  active  growth  in  roots,  stems,  and 
leaves.     Known  fluctuations  in  growth;   these  pre- 


368  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

sumably  connected  with  alterations  of  external  con- 
ditions, which  may  be  tested  by  observation  of  a 
continuous  record  obtainable  by  experiment  (Ex- 
periment 12). 
Formation  of  a  growth  graph :  effects  upon  growth 
of  fluctuations  of  temperature,  humidity,  light; 
growth   movements,    including  circumnutation. 

Materials.  —  These,  of  course,  can  consist  usually  of  such 
flowers  as  are  available  in  greenhouses  (including  those  used 
for  study  in  the  two  preceding  sections),  supplemented  by 
some  museum  material  and  the  abundant  good  pictures 
available  in  books.  The  important  works  on  the  subject  are 
mentioned  in  an  earlier  chapter  (p.  190). 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  In  principle  this  work  on  cross 
pollination  belongs  to  summer  field  studies  and  is  of  little 
profit  when  made  only  upon  greenhouse  plants,  which  are 
removed  wholly  from  their  natural  surroundings  and  from 
their  pollinating  insects.  Yet  in  fact,  because  of  practical 
difiiculties,  even  extensive  field  work  yields  a  very  limited 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  and  in  any  case  a  comprehensive 
view  thereof  must  be  chiefly  theoretical.  Hence  it  is  well 
worth  while  to  consider  the  subject  in  a  general  way  from 
greenhouse  materials,  supplemented  by  museum  material 
and  especially  by  good  pictures.  Moreover,  with  some 
flowers,  a  good  deal  of  simple  but  illuminating  experiment 
is  possible  in  proving  the  operation  of  the  mechanisms,  by 
imitating  the  action  of  the  insect  through  use  of  pencils, 
brushes,  etc.  The  subject  should  be  broadened  to  include  a 
study  of  cross  pollination  by  the  agency  of  wind,  water, 


THE   ECOLOGY   OF   FLOWERS  369 

birds,  and  other  animals.  The  entire  subject  is  one  of  very 
great  interest  to  most  students,  and  well  worth  a  good  deal 
of  attention. 

As  to  the  facts  of  the  transport  of  pollen  by  insects  and 
other  agencies,  and  the  necessity  thereof  to  many  plants  in 
securing  fertiUzation,  there  is,  of  course,  no  question;  but  we 
are  not  at  present  so  sure  as  we  were  as  to  its  ecological  sig- 
nificance. The  older,  or  conventional,  argument  ran  some- 
what thus:  Experiments  and  observation  have  shown  that 
better  seed  is  produced  when  pollen  and  ovule  come  from 
different  plants;  this  requires  the  transport,  by  some  external 
moving  agency,  of  pollen  from  one  plant  to  another;  this  is 
often  brought  about  by  wind,  but  that  is  a  very  wasteful 
method;  a  much  more  economical  method  would  consist  in 
the  utilization  of  some  agency  which  could  be  made  to  move 
in  a  definite  path  from  one  flower  to  another;  small  animals, 
particularly  insects,  form  such  an  agency,  but  some  induce- 
ment must  be  provided  to  make  them  visit  the  flowers;  this  is 
generally  effected  by  the  provision  of  nectar,  on  which  they 
feed ;  but  the  place  where  nectar  occurs  must  be  shown  the  in- 
sects so  they  may  find  it ;  this  is  accomplished  either  by  strong 
odors,  or  else  by  color,  usually  developed  in  a  special  part, 
the  corolla.  Then  the  argument  may  be  continued  thus: 
not  only  must  the  insect  be  brought  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
nectar,  and  therefore  of  the  pollen,  but  it  must  be  made  to 
approach  the  nectar  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  upon  the 
stigma  the  pollen  it  has  brought,  and  to  take  a  new  supply; 
hence  the  different  shapes  and  sizes  of  flowers  —  shape  being 
an  adaptation  to  obUge  the  insect  to  enter  the  flower  in  a 
position  suitable  to  insure  the  poUination,  and  size  being  in 
general  related  to  the  size  and  form  of  the  \isiting  insect. 

2  B 


370 


THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


This  mode  of  reasoning  must  be  used  with  great  caution, 
and  not  allowed  by  the  pupils  without  the  accompaniment  of 
a  full  statement  of  its  purely  theoretical  nature. 

The  work  on  flower  clusters  should  include  some  termi- 
nology, as  well  as  the  simple  diagramming  of  the  more  promi- 
nent kinds  of  clusters.  The  subject  is  admirably  treated  in 
the  works  of  Asa  Gray.  Ecologically  it  includes  nothing 
of  special  interest,  the  massing  of  flowers  in  clusters  being 
apparently  an  accessory  adaptation  to  making  them  more 
conspicuous  to  insects. 

Physiology.  —  The  physiological  study  of  growth  could 
logically  well  come  earlier,  e.g.  in  connection  mth  the  study 
of  the  developing  plant,  or  with  respiration,  but  there  is  a 
great  practical  advantage  in  postponing  it  to  this  time,  viz. 
it  brings  the  study  in  the  early  spring  when  all  conditions  for 
growth  itself,  and  for  a  supply  of  the  best  materials  for  its 
demonstration,  are  far  more  favorable  than  they  can  be 
earlier  in  the  year.  It  is  particularly  difficult  to  demon- 
strate it  before  the  "  turn  of  the  year  "  (in  autumn  and  early 
winter),  because  most  plants  are  then  passing  into  a  resting 
condition.  Growth  is  one  of  the  most  important  but  most 
compHcated  of  physiological  processes.  The  teacher  should 
as  usual  lead  up  to  the  subject  along  some  discussion  of  fa- 
miliar facts,  perhaps  somewhat  as  indicated  under  Exer- 
cise 64.  The  place  of  most  active  growth  in  roots,  stems, 
and  leaves  is  easily  determined  experimentally  as  follows: 
Germinate  some  Beans  or  Corn  in  Sphagnum  moss,  until 
the  roots  are  2  cm.  long;  withdraw  a  seed,  lay  the  root  flat 
on  the  moss  and  mark  it,  by  waterproof  India  ink,  with 
regularly-spaced  marks  2  mm.  apart  from  the  tip  backward; 
then  place  it  in  a  clean  thistle  tube,  the  seed  in  the  bulb 


THE   ECOLOGY   OF   FLOWERS  371 

packed  with  moss  and  the  marked  root  in  the  tube;  stand 
the  tube  in  a  dark  warm  place,  tipped  slightly  away  from 
the  marked  side  of  the  root,  which  will  then  exhibit  the  place 
of  its  growth  by  the  new  spacing  of  the  marks.  Young 
stems  and  petioles  may  be  marked  in  the  same  way,  but  need 
no  special  treatment;  while  leaves  for  the  same  purposes 
may  be  marked  into  regular  small  squares,  the  spread  of 
which  will  indicate  the  place  of  principal  growth.  The  mark- 
ing can  be  done  by  small  brushes  or  inked  threads,  but  special 
space  markers,  adjusted  to  mark  roots,  stems,  and  leaves 
very  rapidly  and  efficiently,  are  supplied  with  directions  for 
use  among  my  normal  apparatus  (mentioned  on  p.  135). 
These  experiments  can  well  be  shown  in  demonstration, 
though  I  have  not  included  them  in  the  regular  series  for 
student  study. 

Preparatory  to  the  further  experimental  study  of  growth, 
the  teacher  should  recall  some  of  the  familiar  facts  about 
the  fluctuations  of  plant  growth,  and  especially  the  well- 
known  facts  that  its  rate  is  greatly  affected  by  warmth,  cold, 
dampness,  light,  and  darkness,  etc.,  and  he  should  lead  the 
students  to  desire  some  more  exact  study  of  the  subject. 
This  necessitates  some  kind  of  continuous  record  of  growth 
which  will  permit  its  fluctuations  to  be  compared  with  those 
of  external  conditions.  Such  a  record  can  be  obtained  only 
by  some  form  of  recording  auxanometer  or  auxograph,  of 
which  a  good  many  forms  have  been  described,  all  sum- 
marized in  my  book  on  Plant  Physiology.  A  very  efficient 
form,  adapted  especially  to  demonstration  work,  has  recently 
been  added  to  my  normal  apparatus,  and  is  shown  in  the 
accompanying  figure  (Fig.  37).  In  setting  up  this  instru- 
ment for  use,  the  two  support  rods  are  first  to  be  screwed 


372 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


firmly  into  the  support  stand  in  the  positions  shown  by  the 
figure.     The  wheel  arm  is  then  placed  on  top  of  the  longer 


Fig.  37.  —  Demonstration  Auxograph;  X  h 

rod  and  tightened  in  place  by  the  screw,  the  wheels  are 
dropped  into  position,  and  the  guide  wire  for  the  pen  carrier 
is  stretched  from  its  ring  on  the  clockwork  to  its  screw  clamp 
on  the  wheel  arm.     A  paper,  preferably  a  smooth  millimeter 


THE   ECOLOGY   OF   FLOWERS  373 

cross-section  paper,  is  then  placed  on  the  recording  cyUnder. 
The  paper  cUngs  closely  if  simply  tightly  appressed  with  one 
edge  slightly  overlapping  and  tightly  gummed  on,  the  over- 
lapping being  so  managed  that  the  pen  cannot  catch  on  the 
projecting  margin.  The  cylinder  is  then  placed  on  the 
clockwork,  which  is  adjusted  at  such  height  that  the  cyUnder 
is  held  at  the  top  by  the  screw  there  provided.  The  glass  pen 
is  then  filled  with  chronograph  (slow-drying)  ink,  which  is 
drawn  in  through  its  point  by  suction  on  a  slender  rubber 
tube ;  and  it  is  slipped  into  the  flexible  carrier  which  is  guided 
on  the  slender  guide  wire.  From  the  pen  carrier  a  very  slen- 
der, carefully  but  flexibly  waxed  thread  is  carried  over  the 
pulley  wheel  and  the  outer  groove  of  the  quadruple  mag- 
nifying wheel,  where  it  is  passed  out  through  a  tiny  hole 
provided  for  the  purpose  and  fastened  by  a  knot,  this  thread 
being  just  long  enough  to  allow  the  pen  carrier  to  reach  the 
bottom  of  the  cylinder  while  leaving  a  centimeter  or  two 
still  on  the  rim  of  the  large  wheel.  This  wheel  is  then  turned 
to  draw  up  the  pen  carrier  to  the  top  of  the  cylinder,  and  is 
then  held  fixed  in  that  position  by  the  special  clamp  pro- 
vided for  the  purpose.  A  potted  plant,  preferably  one  with 
a  main  stem  just  beginning  active  growth,  is  then  placed  on 
the  plant  support,  which  is  attached  to  the  shorter  support 
rod  and  adjusted  at  such  height  that  the  tip  of  the  growing 
stem  is  about  4  cm.  under  the  larger  wheel.  A  thread, 
treated  as  in  the  former  case,  is  then  tied  in  a  loose-fitting 
loop  just  under  the  terminal  bud,  and  is  carried  up  a  httle 
way  over  the  smallest  of  the  quadruple  wheels  (for  great 
magnification  of  the  record,  —  over  one  of  the  others  for  a 
lesser)  and  is  pushed  out  through  a  hole  and  knotted  as  in 
the  other  case.    Then  the  support  stand  should  be  leveled 


374  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

by  the  screws  provided  for  the  purpose  and  the  clock  should 
be  wound;  then  the  clamp  is  released  from  the  large  wheel, 
when  the  tensions  of  the  threads  will  adjust  themselves,  and 
the  record  will  begin.  The  weight  of  the  pen  and  carrier  is 
such  that  it  just  suffices  to  turn  the  wheels  smoothly  as  the 
growth  of  the  plant  permits  this  to  be  done;  and  the  pen 
descends  steadily  and  traces  on  the  turning  cylinder  a  spiral 
line  which  crosses  the  vertical  line  through  the  starting  point 
once  an  hour.  Thus  the  growth  of  the  plant  is  automatically 
marked  off  on  this  line  every  hour,  magnified  of  course  exactly 
in  the  proportion  of  the  diameters  of  the  two  wheels  con- 
cerned {e.g.  8  times  when  the  smallest  wheel  is  used).  The 
diameter  of  this  cylinder  is  such  that  if  a  millimeter  paper 
be  used,  each  millimeter  space  answers  to  a  minute  of  turn- 
ing. Once  daily,  preferably  always  at  the  same  hour,  the 
clock  should  be  wound  (which  of  course  is  done  from  beneath 
without  disturbing  the  record),  and  the  plant  should  be 
watered,  while,  as  often  as  needed,  a  new  paper  should  be 
placed  on  the  cy Under  and  the  plant  readjusted.  This  is  ef- 
fected by,  first,  turning  the  large  wheel  until  the  pen  carrier 
is  drawn  to  the  top  of  the  cylinder;  second,  clamping  it  in 
that  position;  third,  cautiously  lowering  the  entire  plant  sup- 
port until  the  thread  from  the  tip  of  the  plant  becomes  just 
taut  once  more;  fourth,  releasing  the  clamp  to  allow  the  ten- 
sions to  adjust  themselves  and  the  record  once  more  to  begin. 
One  should  by  no  means  draw  up  the  pen  carrier  by  simply 
lowering  the  plant  support,  for,  although  this  perfectly  and 
accurately  effects  that  end,  it  brings  a  severe  and  injurious 
strain  to  bear  upon  the  slender  growing  tissues  of  the  tip. 
By  the  use  of  the  movable  plant  support,  it  is  never  neces- 
sary to  touch  the  threads  themselves  during  the  entire  course 


THE   ECOLOGY   OF   FLOWERS  375 

of  the  experiment.  The  spiral  line  of  the  record  should  be 
fine  (though  plain  enough  to  be  seen  from  a  considerable 
distance)  and  should  be  quite  smooth:  if  jerks  appear,  it 
means  either  that  the  axles  of  the  wheels  are  not  moving 
freely  (when  they  should  be  cleaned  and  oiled),  or  else  that 
the  thread  is  too  stiff  and  tends  to  set  on  the  small  wheel, 
or  else  that  the  pen  carrier  is  not  quite  heavy  enough  to  turn 
the  wheels  freely,  in  which  case  a  little  loop  of  wire  can  be 
hung  upon  it,  though  no  more  such  weight  should  be  used 
than  just  suffices  to  turn  the  wheels. 

Some  emphasis  has  been  given  above  to  keeping  the  threads 
as  short  as  will  suffice  for  their  work.  The  reason  is  that  all 
kno\^Ti  threads,  no  matter  how  carefully  waterproofed,  will 
absorb  moisture  from  the  air  and  alter  their  lengths,  thus 
introducing  into  the  records  an  error  which  ob\dously  is  the 
less  the  shorter  the  threads.  The  greatest  error  is  intro- 
duced by  the  short  thread,  because  any  alteration  in  its 
length  becomes  magnified  eight  times  in  the  record;  and  it 
is  possible  that  the  greater  part  of  its  length  could  be  re- 
placed by  a  fine  glass  filament,  leaving  only  the  loop  around 
the  plant,  and  the  part  around  the  wheel,  to  remain  of  thread. 
This  error  from  the  thread  can  also  be  relatively  reduced  by 
using  plants  of  the  most  rapid  growth,  which,  for  demonstra- 
tion purposes,  is  obviously  desirable  for  other  reasons  also. 
Best  of  all  plant  parts  for  the  purpose,  and  available 
at  the  time  of  the  year  this  work  is  most  likely  to  come, 
are  the  developing  flower  stalks  of  bulbous  plants  forced  in 
spring  in  a  greenhouse,  and  of  these  Grape  Hyacinth  is  one 
of  the  best.  From  the  flower  stalk  of  this  plant  one  can  ob- 
tain, on  such  an  auxograph  as  here  described,  a  continuous 
record  which  will  be  completed  \\ithin  two  weeks,  and  will 


376  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

show  the  grand  period  of  growth,  with  fluctuations  due  to 
temperature  and  other  causes.  Contemporaneous  obser- 
vation of  the  external  conditions,  especially  of  temperature, 
will  show  the  effects  of  these  upon  growth;  or,  the  entire 
instrument  can  be  exposed  for  a  time  in  places  where  these 
conditions  are  especially  high  or  low. 

If  the  papers,  removed  from  the  cylinders,  are  opened  and 
attached  end  to  end  on  a  board,  they  will  present  an  admir- 
able record  of  growth,  suitable  for  permanent  preservation. 
But  the  record  may  also  be  expressed  by  a  graph,  in  which 
the  horizontal  line  is  marked  off  into  divisions  to  correspond 
to  the  time,  and  vertical  lines  represent  the  amount  of  growth 
per  hour,  when  the  joining  of  the  tops  of  these  vertical  lines 
will  give  a  "  curve,"  very  expressive,  in  its  rise  and  fall,  of 
the  fluctuations  of  the  rate  of  growth. 

The  subject  of  growth  movements  is  a  large  one,  and  prob- 
ably the  only  movement  which  the  teacher  will  care  to  em- 
phasize is  circumnutation,  which  should  be  described,  if  not 
demonstrated,  because  of  its  interest  as  a  piece  of  knowledge 
about  plants.  The  experimental  demonstration  is  not  diffi- 
cult, following  Darwin's  classical  method,  which  has  not  yet 
been  improved  upon,  —  viz.  the  use  of  glass  filaments  at- 
tached to  the  tips  of  the  circumnutating  parts  and  sighted 
through  sheets  of  glass  upon  which  record  marks  are  made. 

Some  consideration  should  of  course  be  given  to  the  sub- 
ject of  the  effects  of  light  and  moisture,  as  well  as  temperature, 
upon  growth,  with  comments  upon  their  economic  correla- 
tions. Upon  these  matters  some  simple  experiments  are 
possible,  directions  for  which  are  given  in  Bergen's  or 
Osterhout's  books,  or  in  my  own  work  on  Plant  Physi- 
ology.    The  subject  of  differentiation,  or  formation  of  new 


THE  MORPHOLOGY  AND  ECOLOGY  OF  FRUITS   377 

parts,  is  also  of  much  interest,  but  in  detail  is  too  special  for 
introduction  here. 


XVII.   The  Morphology  and  Ecology  of  Fruits 

65.  Study   the  structure  and   morphological  composition 

of  six  important  dry  fruits. 

(i)  What  has  become  of  each  of  the  parts  of 
the  original  flower,  i.e.  sepals,  petals, 
stamens,  receptacle,  ovary,  style,  and 
stigma  ? 

(2)  How  are  the  carpels  or  receptacle  modified 

and  arranged  to  form  this  fruit? 

(3)  What  is  the'  morphological  origin    of  the 

new   or  accessory  parts  not  present   in 
the  flower? 

(4)  In    what    places,    morphologically,    is   the 

dehiscence  ? 

(5)  How    are    the    seeds    probably    scattered? 

Answer  as  far  as  possible  by  diagrams  and  drawings. 
Under  (2)  express  the  leaf  or  stem  homology  in  each 
case. 

66.  Study  the  structure  and   morphological  composition 

of  six  important  fleshy  fruits,   and  determine  the 
matters  of  importance  as  in  the  preceding  exercise. 

67.  A  study  of    the  adjustment  of    individual   plants  to 

their  immediate  surroundings  (Irritability). 


378  THE   TEACHING    BOTAXIST 

The  characteristic  inherited  forms  of  plants,  and 
the  ways  in  which  these  may  be  altered  in  individ- 
uals (a)  by  mechanical  accidents,  {b)  by  more  or  less 
favorable  general  influences,  (c)  by  self-adjustments 
to  irregularities  in  the  surroundings.  The  best- 
known  examples  of  the  latter  are  found  in  re- 
sponses to  direction  of  light,  gravitation,  and  soil 
moisture,  all  of  which  may  be  tested  experimentally 
(Experiments  13,  14,  15). 

Materials.  —  The  dry  fruits  must  be  collected  the  year 
before,  or  taken  from  the  museum  collection.  Topical  fol- 
licles are  Columbine  and  Larkspur  or  Monkshood;  legumes 
are  Beans  or  Peas  or  Locust  pods;  winged  fruits  are 
Maple  and  Elm;  other  good  forms  are  Poppy,  Sunflower  or 
other  composite,  Shepherd's  Purse.  The  fleshy  fruits  can 
mostly  be  bought  at  small  cost  in  the  markets.  Good 
kinds  are  Grape,  Tomato,  and  Orange  (especially  navel), 
Apple,  Banana,  Cherry  (canned  are  good),  Strawberry,  Cran- 
berry. Many  others  can  be  used,  but  these  are  particularly 
typical  and  easily  obtainable.  This  subject  as  regards  both 
materials  and  matter  has  connection  \\ith  the  earUer  study 
of  Ecology  of  Seeds. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  The  morphological  part  of 
this  work  is  rendered  difficult  by  the  impracticability  of  pro- 
\dding  the  intermediate  stages  between  flower  and  fruit, 
without  which  it  is  impossible  to  trace  most  morphological 
features  \\ith  any  certainty.  It  would  be  a  great  advantage 
if  some  one  kind,  e.g.  Apple,  could  thus  be  shown  in  all 
Stages  in  actual  material;   and  in  any  case  the  teacher  must 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   AND   ECOLOGY   OF   FRUITS       379 

give  much  aid  in  this  part  of  the  work.  Pictures  of  the 
flowers  from  which  the  fruits  develop  should  be  very  helpful. 
The  subject  will  also  be  simpUfied  if  the  fruits  are  studied 
in  order  of  their  increasing  complexity.  Even  though  stu- 
dents cannot  attain  to  certainty  in  the  morphology,  it  will 
be  a  most  valuable  exercise  for  them  to  form  their  hypotheses, 
and  then  ha^■e  these  confirmed  or  otherwise  by  the  teacher, 
who  ^^^ll  supply  missing  data.  Such  theorizing,  under  rigid 
control,  is  a  truly  scientific  procedure,  —  indeed  the  greatest 
help  of  the  investigator.  There  is  a  particularly  good  treat- 
ment of  this  entire  subject  of  fruits  in  Gray's  Text-books. 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  give  students  unusual  terms,  such 
as  sarcocarp,  etc.,  but  follicle,  legume,  drupe,  etc.,  should,  of 
course,  be  supplied  as  they  are  needed. 

The  true  morphology  of  the  fruit  should  be  taught;  e.g. 
in  the  Apple,  the  flesh  is  mainly  receptacle,  with  a  little  of  it 
from  carpel;  in  the  Cranberry,  it  is  receptacle,  etc.  It  is 
particularly  important  for  the  student  to  obtain  a  clear  idea 
of  those  fruits  in  which  the  ripened  parts  do  not  follow  exactly 
the  morphological  boundaries  of  the  floral  parts.  Thus  in 
the  Cherry  a  part  of  the  carpel  forms  stone  and  the  other 
part  pulp.  Something  similar  to  this  separation  occurs  in 
the  Orange,  where  the  skin  is  separable;  it  is  a  part  of  the 
carpels.  The  pulp  of  the  Orange  is  a  growth  of  hairs  from 
the  inner  (upper)  faces  of  the  carpellary  leaves,  though  these 
hairs  are  not  unicellular.  The  whole  subject  of  the  mor- 
phology of  the  pulp,  which  originates  in  a  variety  of  ways, 
is  of  great  interest. 

So  far  as  the  ecology  of  fruits  is  concerned,  that  is  bound 
up  with  seed  dissemination,  a  subject  which  has  already 
been  considered  but  which  should  here  be  reviewed  with 


380  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

more  detail.  Here  also  the  teacher  should  discuss  the  eco- 
nomics of  fruits,  especially  in  relation  to  their  use  as  food 
by  man. 

Physiology.  —  The  study  of  the  adjustments  of  individual 
plants  to  their  surroundings  by  aid  of  movements  which 
they  make  for  themselves  (known  as  Irritability)  is  one  of 
the  most  important  parts  of  Plant  Physiology  and  should 
receive  some  attention,  although  only  its  more  obvious  phases 
are  in  place  in  a  general  course.  There  are  different  places 
in  the  course  where  it  can  advantageously  be  introduced  {e.g. 
phototropism  with  leaves,  geotropism  with  roots  and  stems, 
hydrotropism  with  roots) ;  but  it  is  also  a  suitable  subject 
with  which  to  close  the  physiological  work.  Of  all  the  re- 
sponses, the  most  common  and  easy  to  study  is  that  to 
light  (phototropism  or  heliotropism).  It  is  familiar  to 
everybody  in  the  turning  of  house  plants  towards  windows. 
It  is  worth  while,  however,  to  experiment  with  this  power, 
partly  in  order  to  give  more  exact  knowledge  thereof,  and 
partly  because  it  is  so  typical  an  example  of  irritability.  It 
can  be  very  effectively  demonstrated  thus.  Provide  a  pho- 
totropic  demonstration  chamber  made  from  a  box  divided 
by  a  partition  into  two  chambers,  each  20  cm.  square  and  40 
cm.  high,  but  both  open  in  the  same  direction  on  the  same 
side.  It  should  be  painted  white  outside  and  black  inside, 
and  be  provided  with  a  convenient  handle  on  top.  Into  one 
chamber  is  placed  a  young  actively  growing  plant  of  slender 
parts  (such  as  Garden  Nasturtium),  while  in  the  other  a 
similar  plant  is  placed  on  a  clinostat  constantly  revolving. 
If  the  chamber  is  then  stood  in  a  good  light,  after  some 
twenty-four  hours  the  plant  which  is  fixed  (and  which  should 
be  stood  on  a  block  to  bring  it  to  the  height  of  the  other  on 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   AND   ECOLOGY   OF   FRUITS       381 


the  clinostat)  will  be  found  turned  over  strongly  to  the 
light,  while  that  on  the  clinostat  remains  upright  and  sym- 
metrical, the  contrast  be- 
tween the  two  being  very 
striking.  This  method 
also  permits,  by  suitable 
experimenting,  the  time 
needed  for  the  bending 
towards  light  to  be  de- 
termined. If  no  clinostat 
is  available,  I  presume 
the  same  result  could  be 
obtained  by  frequently 
turning  one  of  the  plants 
during  the  day  time.  A 
clinostat  is  a  very  useful 
instrument,  not  only  for 
the  study  of  this,  but  also 
of  other  forms  of  irritabil- 
ity as  well.  A  good  form, 
manufactured  for  this  pur- 
pose, is  shown  by  the  ac- 
companying figure  (Fig. 
38) ;  it  is  supplied  among 
the  new  normal  apparatus 
mentioned   on    an   earlier 

page    (135).      It    may   also      Fk.  38.  — Demo^tion  Clinostat;  X  J. 

be  used  in   horizontal   or 

other  positions,  and  to  this  end  is  supplied  with  the  needful 
accessories.  Much  other  easy  experimentation  upon  photo- 
tropism,  of  which  the  details  are  all  given  in  books  devoted 


382  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

to  the  subject,  is  possible,  including  the  demonstration  of  the 
turning  of  roots  from  light ;  but  presumably  there  is  not  time 
or  need  for  more  of  such  work  in  this  course. 

The  adjustment  of  plants  to  gravitation  (geotropism)  is 
one  of  the  most  important  of  the  physiological  phenomena 
they  exhibit,  and  one  of  the  easiest  for  study,  though  its 
very  existence  is  not  generally  recognized.  The  students 
have  already  come  into  contact  therewith,  and  in  a  way 
which  is  the  easiest  of  all  for  its  experimental  demonstration, 
in  Exercise  14,  which  shows  that  all  primary  roots  turn 
vertically  downward  no  matter  in  what  position  the  seed 
first  sends  them  forth.  The  teacher  can  also  recall  to  the 
students  another  manifestation  of  geotropism  which  will  be 
known  to  some  of  them  at  least,  viz.  the  way  in  which  young 
spruces  or  firs,  standing  on  hillsides,  send  their  stems  ver- 
tically upward  and  their  branches  horizontally  outwards,  no 
matter  how  steep  the  slopes  may  be,  thus  showing  that  these 
positions  are  determined  not  by  relation  to  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  but  to  an  up-and-down  line  which  is  established 
solely  by  gravitation.  Geotropism  is  easily  demonstrated  in 
a  variety  of  ways,  one  of  the  simplest  being  that  already 
mentioned,  viz.  the  planting  of  seeds  in  as  many  different 
positions  as  possible  against  the  glass  of  a  germination  box. 
The  demonstration  is  still  more  striking  if  the  seeds  are  placed 
in  a  moist-chamber  of  glass  through  which  their  growth  can 
be  observed  in  all  parts.  They  will  grow  well  if  pinned  to 
corks  arranged  upon  the  rim  of  a  tumbler,  the  seeds  being 
kept  wet  by  wicks  from  the  water,  as  shown  by  the  accom- 
panying figure  (Fig.  39).  The  chamber  should  be  kept 
darkened  except  during  observation,  and  the  plants  will 
grow  better  if  the  old  air  is  occasionally  puffed  gently  out. 


THE   MORPHOLOGY   AND   ECOLOGY   OF   FRUITS       383 


Very  striking  and  satisfactory,  also,  is  the  correlative  experi- 
ment of  revolving  a  similar  set  of  seeds  upon  a  clinostat; 
this  is  readily  accomplished  by  placing  the  corks  upon  the 
rim  of  the  disk  supplied  with  the  instrument.  The  clinostat 
is  then  placed  horizontally,  with  the  vertically-revolving  disk 
in  a  moist-chamber  (readily  made  from  a  large  flower 
pot  bored  to  receive  the  rod  which  carries  the  disk), 
just  over  a  dish  of  water 
into  which  the  bits  of  wick- 
ing  dip  at  each  revolution. 
In  such  case  there  is  no  con- 
stant position  taken  by  the 
new  roots,  but,  unless  dis- 
turbed by  some  extraneous 
cause,  these  continue  to 
grow  on  straight  in  the  di- 
rections in  which  they  start 
out.  Suggestions  for  per- 
forming this  experiment  in 
other  ways  suitable  for 
demonstration,  including  a 
method  for  keeping  both 
sets  of  seeds  under  conditions  almost  exactly  identical  while 
upon  a  single  support,  are  given  in  my  work  on  Plant  Physi- 
ology, together  with  experiments  showing  many  other  phases 
of  this  interesting  subject.  Among  the  most  important  of 
these  accessory  experiments  would  be  one  which  proves  that 
the  movement  in  geotropism  as  in  phototropism  is  not  a  move- 
ment of  already  formed  parts,  like  the  movement  of  a  muscle, 
but  is  the  result  of  a  more  rapid  growth  upon  one  side  than 
the  other  of  a  growing  structure ;  and  this  is  the  nature  of  the 


Fig. 


39.  —  Glass    moist-chamber 
study  of  Geotropism;  X  i. 


for 


384  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

machinery  which  produces  most  irritable  responses.  A  point 
in  this  process  needing  emphasis  is  the  fact  that  responses  to 
gravitation  take  place  not  simply  towards  it,  but  with  equal 
ease  away  from  it,  or  horizontally,  or  at  any  intermediate  angle. 
This  shows  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  roots  are 
pulled  by  gravitation  into  their  positions,  because  gravity 
obviously  cannot  push  the  main  stems  and  side  branches 
into  their  positions.  In  fact  gravitation,  in  the  latter  cases 
at  least,  and  hence  presumably  in  the  former,  can  act  only 
as  a  pointer  or  guide  to  direction,  so  to  speak,  the  special 
plant  growth  being  the  physical  power  which  sends  the  part 
into  the  new  position.  This  illustration  shows  well  the  real 
nature  of  irritability  —  the  external  influence,  whatever  it  is, 
acts  simply  as  a  signal,  but  does  not  supply  any  power  to 
cause  the  response.  The  responding  is  done  by  the  plant, 
from  its  own  power,  and  is  made  in  directions  which  carry 
the  parts  into  those  positions  where  they  can  carry  on  their 
distinctive  functions  to  best  advantage. 

The  responses  of  roots  to  moisture  (hydrotropism)  con- 
stitute one  of  their  most  important  peculiarities,  though  a 
corresponding  power  is  lacking  in  stems.  A  familiar  ex- 
ample is  found  in  the  well-known  fact  that  the  roots  of  trees 
often  enter  and  block  up  drains  long  distances  from  the  tree 
itself.  The  power  of  roots  to  follow  moisture  is  readily  demon- 
strated by  attaching  small  seeds  (e.g.  Mustard)  against  the 
outside  of  flower  pots  stoppered  in  the  bottom  and  filled 
with  water.  The  geotropism  of  the  developing  roots  would 
naturally  tend  to  make  them  grow  straight  downwards,  and 
therefore  away  from  the  pots;  and  this  they  actually  do  if 
the  pot  is  kept  tightly  inclosed  in  a  chamber  in  which  the 
air  can  become  saturated  with  moisture.     But  if  the  pot  be 


THE    MORPHOLOGY   AND   ECOLOGY   OF   FRUITS       385 

only  partially  inclosed  (it  must  be  covered  somewhat  or  the 
roots  will  dry  up),  the  roots  will  keep  close  against  the  moist 
pot  even  if  this  be  tilted  a  good  way  over  from  its  natural 
position.  There  are  other  ways  of  demonstrating  the  same 
thing,  but  none  that  are  simpler  than  this. 

The  three  forms  of  irritability,  here  recommended  for  study, 
viz.  phototropism,  geotropism,  and  hydrotropism,  are  the 
most  important  of  its  forms,  and  serve  well  to  illustrate  its 
nature.  On  this  basis,  however,  the  teacher  can  advan- 
tageously give  some  account  of  the  other  prominent  forms, 
especially  thi^motropism,  with  its  remarkable  manifestations 
in  the  curling  of  tendrils  and  the  movements  of  sensitive 
plants,  and  chemotropism,  \nth  its  guidance  of  pollen  tubes 
and  antherozoids.  Then  the  characteristics  of  all  forms  of 
irritability  in  common  should  be  considered,  invohdng  the 
facts  that  the  responses  are  all  accomplished  by  the  plant 
itself  (the  external  influence  or  force  acting  simply  as  a  signal 
or  stimulus)  and  that  they  are  all  adaptive,  bringing  the  parts 
into  positions  for  better  performance  of  their  functions. 
Thus  they  all  represent  methods  by  which  indi\ddual  plants 
can  fit  themselves  better  to  the  irregularly  distributed  condi- 
tions of  their  own  indi\'idual  en\'ironments.  Of  course,  the 
extent  to  which  they  can  do  this  is  limited.  Each  plant  has 
its  principal  features  and  its  ground  form  imposed  upon  it  by 
heredity,  but  in  all  of  its  parts  it  has  a  certain  margin  of  power 
of  individual  adjustment  of  details.  Animals  have  also  some 
of  this  power,  but  in  much  less  degree  than  plants. 


3C 


DIVISION   II 

THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  AND  CLASSIFICATION 
OF  THE  GROUPS  OF  PLANTS 

I.   The  Algae 

A.  The  Green  Algce.,  or  Chlorophycea 

68.  Study  the  Pleurococcus   {P.  viridis). 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition. 

(2)  What    is    the   anatomy   of   its    vegetative 

structure?     Is  the  chlorophyl  in  distinct 
plastids  ? 

(3)  What  are  the  stages  concerned  in  its  mode 

of  reproduction  by  fission?    What  con- 
nection can  you  trace  between  this  and 
the  mode  of  grouping  of  the  cells  ? 
Answer,  as  earlier,  by  drawings  or  words  as  may  be  most 
expressive. 

69.  Study   the   Vaucheria  (V.   sessilis). 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition. 

(2)  What  is  the  anatomy  of  its  vegetative  struc- 
ture?     Are    the    filaments    divided    off 

386 


THE   ALG^  387 

by  cell  walls?     Wliat  shapes  and  posi- 
tions have  the  chloroplasts  ? 
(3)  "What  are  the  structures  and  stages  con- 
cerned in  its  modes  of  reproduction :  — 

(a)  Asexually  by  motile  zoospores  formed 

in  swollen  ends  of  the  filaments  ? 

(b)  Sexually,  by  fusion  of  male  and  female 

gametes  developed  in  oogonia  and 
antheridia  formed  as  branches  from 
the  filaments  ? 

B.    The   Brown  Alga,  or  PhcBophycecs 

70.  Study  the  Rockweed  {Fucus  vesiculosus) . 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition,  noting  especially  its  mode  of 
attachment  to  rocks,  the  use  of  the 
bladders,  and  the  way  in  which  it  obtains 
air. 

(2)  What  is  the  structure  and  anatomy  of  the 

vegetative  body  (thallus)  ?  Are  the  cells 
differentiated  into  distinct  tissues?  Is 
the  brown  color  in  plastids? 

(3)  What  are  the    structures   and  stages  con- 

cerned in  its  mode  of  reproduction  by 
formation  of  eggs  in  oogonia  and  sper- 
matozoids  in  antheridia,  both  in  concep- 
tacles,  and  their  subsequent  fusion  outside  ? 


388  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

C.  The  Red  Alga,  or  RhodophycecB 

71.  Study  the  Polysiphonia  {P.  fastigiata). 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition,  noting  especially  the  nature 
of  its  peculiar  relation  to  Ascophyllum, 

(2)  What  is  the  general  structure  and  anatomy 

of  the  thallus  ?  Do  you  find  chlorophyl 
or  other  color-carrying  bodies  (chromato- 
phores)  ?  Can  you  think  of  a  reason  for 
the  characteristic  color? 

(3)  What  are  the  structures  and  stages  con- 

cerned in  its  mode  of  reproduction:  — 
(a)  Asexually  by  tetraspores  developed  in 

the  tissue  of  the  thallus  ? 
(p)  Sexually,  by  union  of  spermatia,  formed 
in  antheridial  branches,  with  the 
contents  of  a  procarp  seated  on  the 
thallus,  through  a  projecting  thread 
(trichogyne),  resulting  in  formation 
of  a  many-spored  cystocarp  ? 

Materials.  —  Algae,  although  amply  abundant,  are  not 
always  easy  to  collect  in  condition  for  study,  especially  in 
winter,  and  those  here  recommended  seem  to  embody  the 
optimum  between  importance  and  availability.  It  is,  of 
course,  desirable  that  any  forms  selected  shall  represent  the 
three  great  leading  subdivisions  of  the  Algae.  For  a  uni- 
cellular form  Pleurococcus  is  good  and  easily  obtainable. 


THE   ALG/E  389 

It  may  be  found  on  the  bark  of  trees,  on  the  damp,  shaded 
side,  where,  forming  a  green   film,  it  is  sufficiently  familiar. 
Vaucheria  is  a  particularly  good  form  for  study.     It  occurs 
on  the  damp  soil  of  the  pots  in  all  greenhouses,  but  in  especial 
abundance,  I  am  told,  in  Carnation  houses.     If  some  of  the 
soil  showing  traces  of  a  dark  green    growth  be  taken  from 
these  pots  and  placed  in  shallow  seed  pans  (a  kind  of  low 
flower  pots);    and  if  these  are  then  kept  covered  by  glass 
plates  or  bell-jars  while  well  watered  and  well  lighted  (though 
not  by  direct  sunlight),  the  Vaucheria  will  develop  in  abun- 
dance, and  within  three  or  four  weeks  is  in  good  vegetative 
condition.     In    order,  however,  to    make    it    form    oogonia 
and   antheridia,  as  well  as  the  zoospores,  it  is  necessary  to 
partially  dry  out  the  living  material,  which  is  usually  accom- 
plished by  gradually  removing  the  plate  through  three  or 
four  days.     Spirogyra  is    a    classic    object,    and    in    many 
respects  is  good,  though  it  is  less  typical  than  Vaucheria. 
Conjugating  and  zygosporic  material  must  be  secured  the 
autumn  before  (or  may  be  bought  from  a  botanical  supply 
company),  and,  with  vegetative  material,  may  be  preserved 
in  formaline.     But  it  can  be  kept  alive  all  winter  in  a  dish 
or  tank  in  a  greenhouse,  and  can  then  be  studied  in  its  natural 
color  and  appearance,  though  under  these  conditions  it  will 
not  fruit.     Fucus  may  be  collected  on  the  coast  in  summer 
and  preserved  in  formaline,  or  may  be  obtained  alive  and 
fresh  at  any  time  of  year  from  the  Cambridge  Botanical 
Supply  Company  on  a  few  days'  notice.     For  its  proper 
study  sections    through  the  conceptacles  are  needful,  and 
these  may  be  made  by  the  students  themselves  with  a  sharp 
scalpel,  the  end  of  the  frond  being  held  between  two  flat 
pieces  of  pith.     The  sections  should  be  cut  dry  and  placed 


390  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

under  the  cover  glass  before  water  is  added,  as  otherwise 
they  will  curl  badly.  There  is  no  typical  Red  Alga  which  is 
easily  obtainable  alive  in  quantity  and  in  condition  to  show 
its  reproductive  parts  to  students,  but  the  Polysiphonia, 
which  may  be  obtained  alive  with  the  Fucus,  is  the  most 
available.  Herbarium  specimens  of  various  species  are 
most  valuable  for  the  vegetative  structure,  and  the  repro- 
ductive structures  of  a  typical  form  may  be  shown  from 
diagrams,  the  Kny  series  being  especially  good.  The  stu- 
dents may  copy  particular  stages  from  such  diagrams  to  fill 
gaps  in  their  own  studies;  it  is  not  a  good  practice  if  used 
often,  but  it  is  better  than  nothing  when  material  is  absent. 
Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  Up  to  the  present  this  course 
has  been  concerned  chiefly  with  training  in  fundamental 
botanical  facts  and  phenomena,  using  the  higher  plants  as 
a  basis;  information  has  been  subordinate  to  the  cultivation 
of  eye  and  hand,  and  to  the  formation  of  scientific  habits  of 
mind  and  methods  of  work.  From  this  time  on,  the  object 
is  to  lead  the  student  to  make  a  close  and  sympathetic  per- 
sonal acquaintance,  based  on  a  good  preliminary  knowledge 
of  general  anatomy,  morphology,  and  physiology,  with  the 
chief  kinds  of  living  plants  and  their  habits.  It  is  true  that 
but  few  kinds  of  plants  can  be  studied  in  the  time  usually 
available,  but  this  difficulty  can  be  minimized  by  the  selec- 
tion of  forms  as  representative  as  possible  of  the  great  lead- 
ing groups,  and  by  the  use  of  much  accessory  illustration. 
The  aim  should  be  to  use  a  thorough  study  of  certain  forms 
as  centers,  and  then,  by  aid  of  collections,  pictures,  and 
reading,  to  secure  the  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  stu- 
dents of  a  clear,  sharply  lined  idea  of  the  place  in  nature  of 
the  principal  members  of  each  group,  —  what  kinds  of  situa- 


THE  ALG^ 


39T 


tions  they  inhabit,  how  they  obtain  their  nourishment  and 
reproduce,  the  meaning  of  the  most  constant  characters  of 
form,  color,  etc.,  and  how  each  is  related  to  the  other  groups. 

There  are  so  many  excellent  books,  referred  to  in  Chapter 
VIII,  upon  the  natural  history  of  the  different  groups,  and, 
moreover,  local  conditions  must  determine  so  largely  the  exact 
materials  to  be  used,  that  extended  directions  for  the  labora- 
tory study  are  here  inadvisable;  and  the  outlines  do  Httle 
more  than  indicate  the  important  points  for  study  in  any 
forms  which  may  be  selected  under  each  group.  Particu- 
larly clear  and  full  outlines  for  the  detailed  study  of  all  of 
these  forms  are  given  in  Caldwell's  Handbook  of  Plant  Mor- 
phology, in  Bergen  and  Davis's  Laboratory  and  Field  Manual 
of  Botany,  and  in  others  of  the  laboratory  manuals,  mentioned 
at  p.  206,  earlier  in  this  book. 

It  is  of  first  importance  that  students  see  the  forms  they 
study  as  these  appear  when  alive  and  growing  in  their  native 
places.  But  when  that  is  impossible,  then  the  teacher  should 
describe,  as  vividly  as  possible  and  ^^ith  all  available  illus- 
trations from  museum  specimens,  photographs,  etc.,  just 
where  and  under  what  conditions  they  grow;  and  such  dis- 
cussion of  the  forms  in  relation  to  their  habits  should  be 
regarded  as  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  their  study.  For 
the  same  reason  I  think  it  is  desirable  to  require  a  "character- 
dra^^ing  "  of  each  plant  studied,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  de- 
scription of  its  appearance  and  habitat.  Even  in  Pleuro- 
coccus,  where  a  single  plant  cannot  be  distinguished  with 
the  naked  eye  at  all,  the  student  gains  far  more  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  exact  place  of  the  organism  in  nature  if  he 
has  to  draw  and  describe  the  appearance  of  the  colonies  or 
masses  of  it,  as  they  appear  on  a  piece  of  bark  from  a  tree, 


392 


THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 


than  if,  after  a  hasty  glance  at  the  Imng  form,  he  confines 
his  studies  to  magnified  images.  For  these  character-draw- 
ings, colored  pictures  are  the  best,  and  the  fullest  scope 
should  be  given  the  artistic  talents  of  students;  but  a  black 
and  white  drawing,  leaving  the  colors  to  be  explained  in  notes, 
is  better  than  a  coarsely  or  badly  colored  picture. 

In  the  study  of  the  various  forms  the  teacher  will,  of 
course,  keep  prominent  the  adaptational,  or  ecological,  phases 
of  the  subject.  For  Pleurococcus,  obviously  this  is  most 
simple,  as  the  plant  is  unicellular  and  all  functions  are  per- 
formed by  one  cell;  substances  are  absorbed  anywhere  over 
the  surface.  Vaucheria,  Spirogyra,  and  other  floating  forms 
are  but  little  more  complex;  such  forms  have  a  very  simple 
ecology.  In  the  more  complex  forms,  however,  adaptations 
become  more  pronounced;  special  attention  should  be  given 
to  such  matters  as  the  thinness  and  fineness  of  division  of  the 
forms  always  immersed,  in  adaptation  to  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  a  sufiiciency  of  dissolved  carbon  dioxide,  and  es- 
pecially of  oxygen,  from  water:  the  toughness,  elasticity,  and 
powerful  holdfasts  of  the  kinds  dwelling  between  tide  marks, 
and  therefore  exposed  to  the  full  force  of  the  waves:  the 
bladders  ser\ang  as  floats:  and  the  red  and  brown  colors 
which  are  present,  disguising  the  green,  in  adaptation  to  the 
peculiar  light  conditions.  Consideration  should  also  be  given 
to  the  economic  bearings  of  the  forms,  the  subject  not  being 
ignored  even  when  the  uses  are  insignificant  or  wanting. 

In  this  kind  of  study  I  think  collecting  is  of  great  value. 
The  collecting  instinct  is  one  of  the  chief  attributes  of  the 
successful  naturalist,  especially  of  him  who  studies  whole 
organisms.  The  taking,  the  preparing,  the  keeping  of  speci- 
mens, all  have  value  in  increasing  acquaintance  therewith, 


THE   FUNGI 


393 


and  the  reference  to  them  from  time  to  time  afterward  is  a 
pleasure  and  a  profit.  But  as  most  people  lack  this  inclina- 
tion, it  is  better  to  make  the  collecting  voluntary.  Algae  are 
easy  to  preserve.  Of  Pleurococcus,  a  little  should  be  scraped 
carefully  off,  put  on  a  small  piece  of  paper,  moistened,  well 
spread  out,  and  then  placed  between  driers,  with  a  bit  of 
cotton  cloth  over  the  alga  to  keep  it  from  sticking  to  the 
upper  paper.  Spirogyra  should  be  floated  out  well  in  water, 
then  paper  should  be  slipped  under  it,  and  the  whole  lifted 
from  the  water,  to  be  dried  afterward  as  in  the  Pleurococcus. 
These  may  then  be  mounted  in  the  book  herbarium  described 
elsewhere  (see  p.  163).  A  most  valuable  series  may  be 
made  by  mounting  specimens  of  all  the  plants  studied  in 
this  Part  II,  and  thus  would  result  a  very  instructive  collec- 
tion of  types  representing  the  groups  from  Algae  to  Sper- 
matophytes.  This  would  accord  with  one  division  of  the 
plan  earlier  recommended  (p.  156). 

Finally,  the  teacher  should  use  all  devices  at  his  command 
to  extend  the  limited  laboratory  knowledge  of  the  few  types 
to  a  more  comprehensive  conception  of  the  Algae  in  general. 
He  should  give  some  brief  account  of  the  other  leading  divi- 
sions of  the  group,  including  the  Blue-greens,  which  are 
hardly  practicable  for  study  in  this  general  course.  If  the 
teacher  should  desire  a  scientific  term  for  this  group,  compara- 
ble with  those  ending  in  -phytes  for  the  higher  groups,  the 
word  "  Phycophytes  "  would  be  entirely  suitable. 

II.    The  Fungi 

A.    The  Fission  Fungi,  or  Schizomycetes 

72.  Study  representative  forms  of  Bacteria. 

(i)  Describe    their    appearance,    habitat,     and 
mode  of  nutrition. 


394  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

(2)  What  anatomical  structure  do  they  exhibit? 

What  forms?     Do  they  make  colonies? 
Do  they  show  movement? 

(3)  What  are  the  stages  in  their  mode  of  repro- 

duction by  fission? 
What  conditions  and  structures  are  involved 
in  spore  formation? 

(4)  In  what  ways  do  Bacteria  affect  the  inter- 

ests of  man  ? 

B.    The  Sugar-using  Fungi,  or  Saccharomycetes 

73.  Study  the  Yeast  (Saccharomyces  cerevisics). 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition. 

(2)  What  anatomical  structure  does  it  exhibit? 

(3)  What  are  the  structures  and  stages  involved 

in  its  mode  of  reproduction :  — 

(a)  by  budding  from  the  older  cells? 

(b)  by  spore  formation? 

(4)  In  what  ways  does  Yeast  affect  the  interests 

of  man? 

C,    The  Alga-like  Fungi,  or  Phycomycetes 

74.  Study  the  Bread  Mold  (Rhizopus  nigricans). 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition. 


THE   FUNGI  395 

(2)  What  anatomical  structure  does  it  exhibit? 

Are  the  filaments  (hyphae)  branched? 
Are   they   many-celled? 

(3)  What  structures  and  stages  are  concerned 

in  its  mode  of  reproduction:  — 

(a)  Asexually,  by  spores  from  sporangia  on 

long  stalks  from  the  hyphae?  How 
are  these  spores  probably  scattered? 

(b)  Sexually,    by  formation  of    zygospores 

from  two  uniting  filaments?  Is  this 
process  related  to  anything  earlier 
studied  ? 

(4)  In  what  ways  do  molds    and    their   near 

relatives  affect  the  interests  of  man? 

D.  The  Sac  Fungi,  or  Ascomycetes  (including  the  Lichens) 
75.  Study   the   common   Lichen   (Parmelia). 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition. 

(2)  What  anatomical  structure  does  it  exhibit, 

both  as  to  the  mycelium  of  the  Fungus, 
and  the  contained  Algae? 

(3)  What  structures  and  stages  are  concerned 

in    its    mode    of  reproduction : — 
(a)  by  its  separate  constituents,  i.e.  asco- 
spores  from  cups  (apothecia)  of  the 
Fungus,  and  fission  of  the  green  Algae  ? 


396  THE   TEACHLNG    BOTANIST 

(b)  by  its  constituents  collectively,  through 

fragments  of  the  thallus  {soredia)  ? 

(4)  What  relation  is  believed  to  exist  between 

the    Fungi    and    Algae    making    up    the 

Lichen?     Can  the  two  live  apart  from 

the  union? 

76.  What  other  prominent  forms  of  Ascomycetes  exist,  and 

in  what  ways  do  they  affect  the  interests  of  man  ? 

E.  The  Basidial  Fungi,  or  Basidiomycetes 

77.  Study  the  Mushroom   (Agaricus  campestris). 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance  (in  its  mycelium 
as  well  as  its  pileus  stages),  habitat,  and 
mode  of  nutrition. 

(2)  What  is  its  anatomical  structure?    Is  there 

any  resemblance  between  the  anatomical 
structure  of  the  mycelium  and  that  of  the 
pileus? 

(3)  What  structures  and  stages  are  concerned 

in  its  mode  of  reproduction,  asexually, 
by  spores  developed  from  basidia  on  the 
faces  of  the  gills  ? 

(4)  In   what   ways   do   Mushrooms   and   their 

relatives  affect  the  interests  of  man? 

78.  What  other  prominent  forms  of  Basidiomycetes  exist, 

and  in  what  ways  do  they  affect  the  interests  of 
man? 


THE   FUNGI  397 

Materials.  —  The  kinds  of  Fungi  here  recommended  are 
easily  obtained.     Bacteria  of  several  sorts,  in  good  condition 
for  study,  may  be  procured  abundantly  from  hay  infusion, 
i.e.  water  in  which  hay  has  been  placed  and  kept  standing 
two  or  three  days  in  a  warm  place,  or  from  the  water  in 
which  Lima  Beans  have  been  left  standing  two  or  three  days, 
or  from  many  other  sources  described  in  the  several  good 
books  devoted  to  bacteriological  methods  and  mentioned  on 
an  earlier  page  (p.  200).     Yeast  is  easily  prepared  in  perfect 
condition  for  study  by  placing  a  cake  of  compressed  yeast 
in  a  solution  of  sugar  (i  ordinary  yeast  cake  to  150  cc.  of 
water  and  25  grams  of  sugar),  wliich  is  then  to  be  stood  for 
an  hour  or  less  in  a  temperature  approximating  28°  C.     It  does 
not  form  spores  in  such  a  solution,  but  may  be  made  to  do 
so   by   cultivation,  with  somewhat   special   precautions,  on 
plaster-of-paris  plates.     Bread  mold  develops  usually,  though 
not  always,  on  bread  kept  for  several  days  in  a  moist,  warm, 
dark  place ;  and  the  surest  way  to  have  it  when  wanted  is  to 
make    cultures  from  dry  material   saved   for   the   purpose. 
Mushrooms  can   be   bought   from  the  markets,  or  canned 
ones  are  almost  equal  y  good.      Lichens  are  available  every- 
where, especially  upon  old  tree  trunks. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  In  general  the  remarks  under 
Algae  are  applicable  to  this  section  also.  It  may  seem  that 
the  range  of  material  recommended  is  somewhat  limited,  and 
it  is;  but  in  fact,  material  for  study  of  the  Mildews,  Rusts, 
and  Smuts,  etc.,  is  difficult  to  provide  for  practicable  detailed 
study  by  large  classes,  though  it  would  be  advantageous  to 
introduce  them.  They  can,  however,  be  illustrated  very 
well  by  museum  specimens  and  pictures.  The  Bacteria  and 
Yeasts  are  rendered  somewhat  difficult  of  study  because  of 


398  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

their  small  size,  but  their  great  economic  interest  amply 
justifies  their  inclusion,  and  they  should  by  no  means  be 
omitted. 

Of  course  the  teacher  will  lay  much  stress  upon  the  eco- 
nomic matters  so  prominent  in  connection  with  this  group,  and 
will  include  under  Bacteria  not  only  some  account  of  their 
part  in  causing  diseases  in  man,  but  also  their  role  in  decay, 
cheese  making,  nitrification  of  soils,  etc.  And  he  will  also, 
as  under  the  Algae,  utilize  all  devices  of  illustration  to  give 
as  comprehensive  an  expositi  n  of  the  Fungi  as  possible. 

As  to  the  Lichens,  they  are  sometimes  treated,  for  prac- 
tical reasons,  as  if  they  were  a  separate  group,  though  this  is 
not  true  of  them  scientifically.  The  former  opinion,  that 
they  represented  a  symbiontic  union  involving  mutual  ad- 
vantage between  their  fungal  and  algal  constituents,  ap- 
pears no  longer  fully  tenable;  and  the  \iew  seems  to  be 
growing  in  favor  that  they  are  simply  Ascomycetous  Fungi 
which  have  enslaved,  as  it  were,  certain  Algae. 

The  relationships  of  these  different  Fungi  to  one  another 
and  to  other  groups  are  important.  It  is  generally  beheved 
that  Fungi  are  descended,  with  degeneration  due  to  para- 
sitism, from  Algae,  not,  however,  from  one  group  of  the 
latter  but  from  several,  while  some  of  the  Fungi  have  become 
much  specialized  into  subgroups  since  their  departure  from 
the  Algae.  But  there  is  great  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
details  of  the  relationships  between  the  different  subgroups. 
The  facts,  —  in  a  very  general  way,  however,  and  so  far  as 
they  should  be  known  to  students  in  a  general  course,  —  are 
intended  to  be  brought  out  in  the  diagrammatic  tree  of 
relationships  given  a  few  pages  later  in  this  book. 

If  the  teacher  should  desire  a  scientific  term  for  this  group, 


THE   MOSS   PLANTS,    OR   BRYOPHYTES  399 

comparable   with   those   ending   in    -phytes   for    the   higher 
groups,  the  word  "  Mycophytes  "  would  be  entirely  suitable. 


III.    The  Moss  Plants,  or  Bryophytes 

A.   The  Liverworts,  or  Hepaticce 

79.  Study  the  Marchantia  (M.  polymorpha). 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and^mode 
of  nutrition. 

(2)  What  is  the  anatomical  structure    of   the 

thallus,  inclusive  especially  of  the  peculiar 
stomata  and  their  relation  to  the  air 
chambers  ? 

(3)  What  structures  and  stages  are    involved 

in  its  reproduction:  — 

(a)  Vegetatively   by    gemmae,    formed    in 

cups  on  the  thallus? 

(b)  Sexually    through    the    fertilization    of 

egg  cells,  borne  in  archegonia  on  the 
smaller  receptacles,  by  spermatozoids 
formed  in  antheridia  on  the  larger 
receptacles?  What  structure  results 
from  the  growth  of  the  fertilized  egg? 

(c)  Asexually  by  spores  formed  in  a  sporo- 

gonium  ? 
Consider  comparatively  the  general  structure  and  mode 
of  reproduction  of  other  forms  of  Liverworts,   in- 


400  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

eluding  Riccia  at  one  extreme  and  Anthoceros  at 
the  other,  especially  with  reference  to  the  alter- 
nation of  generation  (viz.  the  asexual  sporophyte 
and  the   sexual   gametophyte). 

B.  The  True  Mosses,  or  Musci 

80.  Study  the  Funaria. 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition. 

(2)  What  is  the  general  structure  and  anatomy 

of  the  plant,  including  its  relation  to  its 
protonema  ? 

(3)  What  structures    and    processes    are    con- 

cerned in  its  reproduction :  — 
(a)  Sexually,  by  the  fertilization  of  egg 
cells,  in  the  archegonia  at  the  tips  of 
some  stems,  by  spermatozoids  formed 
in  antheridia  at  the  tips  of  others  ? 
(&)  Asexually,  by  spores  formed  in  a  cap- 
sule? 

(4)  Do  you  recognize  the  two  generations  in  the 

Moss,    and    the    correspondence    thereof 
with  those  of  the  Liverworts? 

Materials.  —  Marchantia,  although  not  very  typical,  is 
certainly  the  most  available  Liverwort  for  study  in  a  general 
course,  especially  as  concerns  the  ease  of  acquisition  and 
study  of  the  archegonia  and  antheridia.     It  may  be  collected 


THE   FERN   PLANTS,    OR   PTERIDOPHYTES         401 

in  summer,  when  the  receptacles  are  ripe,  and  preserved  in 
formaline,  but  it  may  also  be  kept  alive  over  winter,  in  green- 
houses, where  indeed  it  occurs  naturally  in  neglected  places. 
If  such  material,  which  rarely  is  found  in  fruit,  be  placed,  in 
autumn,  in  shallow  boxes  of  soil,  wliich  are  then  brought 
into  a  very  brightly  lighted  and  moderately  warm  place,  the 
plants  can  be  forced  to  produce  the  receptacles  in  the  spring. 
At  a  pinch  the  fruiting  material  can  be  bought  from  botanical 
supply  companies.  The  leafy  Jungermannia  forms  can 
readily  be  found  in  damp  woods  by  persons  who  know  them. 

As  to  mosses,  Funaria,  which  is  common  everywhere,  is  one 
of  the  best,  especially  since  it  allows  the  capsules  to  be  sec- 
tioned easily.  It  is  difficult  to  find  and  study  the  archegonia 
of  mosses,  of  which  prepared  sections  should  be  provided. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  — Of  course,  as  before,  the  teacher 
will  broaden  the  students'  conceptions  of  these  groups  by 
suitable  exposition  and  illustration,  and  he  will  find  it  worth 
while  to  call  their  attention  to  such  facts  as  the  probable 
derivation  of  the  Liverworts  from  Algae  through  the  floating 
forms:  the  transition  they  mark  from  the  water  to  the  land 
habit:  the  position  of  the  mosses  as  a  side  and  barren  branch: 
and  the  existence  of  distinct  alternation  of  generations  in  the 
Bryophytes,  even  though  the  full  significance  thereof  ^^dll 
not  become  apparent  until  after  they  have  studied  the  Pterid- 
ophytes. 

IV.   The  Fern  Plants,  or  Pteridophytes 

A.  The  true  Ferns,  or  Filicinece 

81.  Study  a  representative  Fern. 

The  inconspicuous  sexual  generation  (prothallium), 
or  Gametophyte. 

2D 


402  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

(i)  Describe  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition. 

(2)  What  anatomical  structure  does  it  exhibit? 

Do  you  find  the   growing    point?    The 
rhizoids  ? 

(3)  What  are  the  structures  and  stages  con- 

cerned   in    its    mode    of    reproduction 
through  the  fertihzation  of  egg  cells,  con- 
tained in  archegonia,  by  spermatozoids 
developed  in  antheridia? 
Through  what  stages  does  the  fertilized  egg 
cell  pass  in  development  to  a  sporophy te  ? 
The  prominent  asexual  generation,  or  Sporophyte. 
(i)  Describe   its  general   appearance,   habitat, 
and   mode   of  nutrition. 

(2)  What  general  structure  and  anatomy  does 

it  exhibit? 

(3)  What  are  the  structures  and  stages  con- 

cerned in  its  mode  of  reproduction  by  the 
asexual  spores  formed  in  the  sporangia  ? 
What  constant  relationship  exists  between 
Gametophyte  and  Sporophyte? 

B.  The  Club  Mosses,  or  Lycopodinece 

82.  Study,  from  living  material  if  possible,  but  otherwise 
from  good  descriptions,  the  general  natural  history 
of  the  typical  Club  Mosses  {Lycopods). 


THE   FERN   PLANTS,    OR   PTERIDOPHYTES         403 

8^.  Study   the   Selaginella  (S.   Kraussiana). 

(i)  Describe  the  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode 
of  nutrition  of  the  sporophyte. 

(2)  What  general  structure  and  anatomy  does 

it  exhibit? 

(3)  What  structures  and  stages  are  concerned 

in  its  mode  of  reproduction  from  mega- 
spores  and  microspores,  which  develop 
inclosed  prothallia  (gametophytes),  bear- 
ing archegonia  with  egg  cells  and  anthe- 
ridia  with  spermatozoids  ? 

(4)  Do  you  understand  the  difference  between 

homosporous  forms  (like  Filices)  and 
heterosporous  forms  (here  considered), 
and  between  a  relatively  large  free-living 
prothallium  and  a  small  inclosed  and 
"parasitic"    prothallium? 

C.  The  Horsetails,  or  EquisetinecB 

84.  Study,  preferably  from  actual  material,  but  if  that  be 
unavailable,  from  good  descriptions,  the  natural 
history  of  representatives  of  this  group. 

Materials.  —  As  to  the  true  ferns,  the  sporophyte  is  al- 
ways available  in  all  greenhouses.  The  prothallia  are  so 
small  and  inconspicuous  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  dis- 
cover them  out  of  doors,  but  they  can  be  found  on  neglected 
flower  pots,  old  brick  walls,  or  earth  in  greenhouses,  although 


404  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

if  such  houses  are  kept  as  clean  and  orderly  as  they  should 
be,  no  material  will  be  available  from  this  source.  The  best 
way  is  to  raise  the  prothallia  on  purpose,  when  they  will  be 
available  in  great  abundance  and  in  all  stages  exactly  when 
needed.  They  may  be  raised  thus:  Shallow  pots  (seed 
pans)  some  four  inches  in  diameter  are  filled  with  soil  upon 
which  ripe  spores  are  shaken  from  a  mature  fern  frond. 
The  pan  is  then  stood  in  a  saucer  kept  well  supplied  -vnth 
water,  and  is  covered  with  a  sheet  of  glass,  occasionally  lifted 
and  shaken  free  of  adherent  water  drops.  The  saucers  are 
stood  in  a  warm  place  (about  20°  C),  moderately  lighted 
(from  the  north)  when  the  prothallia  will  develop  well,  and 
come  into  condition  for  study  in  about  two  months  (sooner 
in  summer),  while  later  they  will  show  also  the  stages  of 
development  of  the  young  sporophytes.  Certain  hetero- 
sporous  Filicineae,  notably  Sahinia  and  AzoUa,  can  be  kept 
alive  in  shallow  pans  in  a  greenhouse,  though  they  are  very 
eccentric  in  their  fruiting.  As  to  Lycopochneae,  the  homo- 
sporous  forms  can  be  secured  only  out  of  doors,  but  can 
well  be  illustrated  from  herbarium  materials.  Various 
species  of  Selaginella  (of  which  S.  Kraussiana  is  most  com- 
mon) grow  readily  in  greenhouses,  and  are  always  kept  in 
stock  by  florists;  they  present  the  microspores  and  mega- 
spores  in  good  condition  in  winter  and  early  spring.  The 
germination  and  the  study  of  the  tiny  prothallium  of 
these  is  too  difficult  for  this  course,  and  must  be  illustrated 
from  good  pictures.  The  Equisetaceae  can  be  studied  in  a 
general  course  only  from  materials  collected  in  advance  out 
of  doors,  since  no  greenhouse  material  is  available. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  This  group  of  Pteridophytes, 
while  vastly  interesting  and  important,   presents  so  much 


THE   SEED   PLANTS,    OR   SPERM ATOPHYTES        405 

complication  of  structure  and  so  many  practical  difficulties 
in  the  study  of  the  most  essential  points,  that  careful  selec- 
tion of  topics  and  a  considerable  amount  of  didactic  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  is  necessary.  The  teacher  here  comes 
actively  into  contact  with  alternation  of  generations  at  its 
best,  and  with  the  various  morphological  changes  in  the 
transition  from  one  group  to  another,  especially  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  seed  habit.  The  study  of  these  morphological 
transitions  never  fails  to  fascinate  the  teacher  who  goes 
personally  into  them,  but  he  should  remember  that  their  full 
understanding  requires  a  considerable  background  of  knowl- 
edge and  some  maturity  of  thought  and  interest,  and  that, 
while  students  can  be  made  to  understand  them,  it  is  knowl- 
edge of  a  kind  which  appeals  to  them  little,  and  is  soon  for- 
gotten. Hence,  I  think  no  great  stress  should  be  laid  upon 
such  matters  in  a  general  course.  It  is  far  more  important 
to  give  emphasis  to  the  general  life  conditions,  habits,  and 
identities  of  the  striking  and  attractive  plants  in  this  group ; 
nor  should  the  teacher  fail  to  call  attention  to  the  beauty  of 
the  ferns,  and  the  part  they  play  in  appealing  to  the  aesthetic 
faculties  of  man.  The  Selaginella  is,  of  course,  introduced  to 
give  knowledge  of  the  two  kinds  of  spores,  which  mark  the 
transition  to  the  seed  and  pollen  of  the  flowering  plant ;  and 
this  subject  should  be  treated  in  general,  even  though  not  in 
detail. 

V.   The  Seed  Plants,  or  Spermatophytes 

A.  The  Gymnosperms 

85.  Study  the  Pitch  Pine  {Pinus  rigida). 

(i)  What  is  its  appearance,  habitat,  and  mode' 
of  nutrition? 


4o6  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 

(2)  What  is  the  structure  of  the  sporophyte, 

especially  as  to  the  position  and  arrange- 
ment of  leaves,  and  cones  of  two  kinds  ? 

(3)  What  is  the  structure,  and  apparent  mor- 

phology of  the  staminate  cone,  including 
the  scales,  anthers,  and  pollen  grains? 

(4)  What  is  the  structure  and  apparent  mor- 

phology of  the  ovulate  cone,  including  the 
scales  and  ovules,  with  their  integuments 
and  micropyle? 

(5)  What  structures  and  stages    are  concerned 

in  sexual  reproduction  through  fusion  of 
an  egg  cell  developed  by  the  prothal- 
lium  within  the  megaspore,  and  a  sperm 
nucleus  developed  by  the  prothallium 
formed  by  the  microspore  ? 

B.  The  Angios perms 

86.  Review,  from  the  present  point  of  view,  and  following 
the  general  outline  of  exercise  85  above,  the  structure 
and  morphology  of  the  Angiosperms,  with  attention 
to  the  structures  and  stages  concerned  in  fertiliza- 
tion and  reproduction,  and  a  consideration  of  the 
differences  between  monocotyledons  and  dicotyle- 
dons. 

■87.  Prepare  a  diagrammatic  representation  of  the  rela- 
tionships of  the  groups  from  Algae  to  Angiosperms, 


THE   SEED   PLANTS,    OR   SPERMATOPHYTES        407 

showing  how  one  group  is  supposed  to  have  been 
evolved   from   another. 

Materials.  —  The  male  and  female  flowers  of  most  pines 
are  in  condition  for  study  in  May,  when  this  work  is  reached, 
though  material  is  also  good  if  collected  and  preserved  in 
formaline.  Pitch  pine  affords  particularly  good  material, 
especially  as  offered  by  sapling  trees.  With  the  younger 
stages  should  be  collected  some  of  the  year-old  cones.  As  to 
the  study  of  the  Angiosperms,  the  limitations  of  time  may 
confine  that  to  a  review  of  the  earlier  studies,  but  in  any 
case  an  abundance  of  good  material  will  be  available  out  of 
doors  at  the  time  when  this  work  will  come. 

Suggestions  on  Teaching.  —  While  the  general  structure 
of  Spermatophytes  is  easy  enough  for  study,  the  structures 
within  ovule  and  pollen  grain  are  mostly  too  difficult  for  the 
student  of  this  course  to  work  out  for  himself,  and  much  use 
will  have  to  be  made  of  preparations  and  good  pictures.  As 
I  have  stated  on  a  previous  page,  I  do  not  think  it  is  desirable 
to  attempt  to  teach  students  in  a  general  course  the  full  sig- 
nificance of  morphological  transitions  from  group  to  group,' 
although  this  should  be  explained  to  them  in  a  general  Way 
as  a  matter  of  much  scientific  interest  which  they  can  go 
thoroughly  into  if  they  pass  on  to  advanced  courses.  It  is 
well,  however,  to  use  the  correct  morphological  terms  for  the 
parts,  giving  megaspore,  microspore,  etc.,  along  with  the 
older  terms.  As  to  the  morphology  of  the  scales  of  the 
cones  in  Gymnosperms,  the  teacher  will  not,  of  course,  attempt 
to  homologize  them  with  parts  of  carpels;  no  such  homology  is 
possible,  for,  as  we  now  know,  Gymnosperms  and  Angiosperms 
have  had  independent  origins  from  different  groups  of  Pterid- 


4o8  THE   TEACHING    BOTANIST 

ophytes,  and  cone  scales  and  carpels  have  had  no  connection 
with  one  another.  Of  course  the  teacher  will  give,  along  with 
the  Pines,  etc.,  an  account  of  the  Cycads,  with  especial  atten- 
tion to  their  striking  mode  of  fertilization  by  free-swimming 
spermatozoids  released  from  a  wind-carried  pollen  grain, — a 
condition  beautifully  intermediate  between  the  arrangements 
prevailing  in  the  lower  and  higher  plants.  He  can  also  make 
clear,  at  this  point,  the  importance  of  the  pollen  grain  (easily 
transportable  by  external  moving  agencies,  and  with  its 
growing  tube  independent  of  water  fertilization)  in  ena- 
bling plants  to  free  themselves  from  dependence  upon  water 
in  fertilization,  and  hence  to  grow  to  a  great  size  upon  land. 
It  is  possible  in  this  way  to  give  students  some  vivid  idea  of 
the  great  facts  on  which  our  belief  in  evolution  is  based, 
though  the  attempt  to  teach  anything  about  the  subject  in 
detail  is  out  of  place  in  a  general  course,  especially  in  a  high 
school. 

As  to  the  construction  of  diagrams  to  exhibit  relationships 
of  the  groups  to  one  another,  the  students  cannot  do  much 
by  themselves,  but  with  aid  of  the  teacher  they  can  work  out 
a  scheme  something  like  that  which  is  shown  in  the  figure 
herewith  (Fig.  40).  The  mode  of  branching  indicates  the 
supposed  mode  of  origin  of  the  groups  from  one  another; 
thus  the  Algae  were  once  the  dominant  and  principal  group 
in  the  main  line  of  evolutionary  advance;  from  these  the 
Bryophytes  came  off  as  a  side  branch,  soon,  however,  as  a 
result  of  better  adaptation  to  new  physical  conditions,  them- 
selves assuming  the  main  line  of  advance  and  thus  forcing 
the  Algae  aside  to  a  minor  evolutionary  position.  Later  the 
Pteridophytes,  arising  as  a  branch  from  Bryophytes,  became 
the  principal  group,  displacing  the  latter,  while  in  turn  they 


THE   SEED   PLANTS,    OR   SPERMATOPHYTES        409 


gave  origin  to  the  Angiosperms.     In  a  general  way  we  know 
the  features  which  enabled  each  group  to  climb  to  a  highei 


^^G\OSPERMS 


■UNICElI  LULAR 

flagIellate- 

GREEN  IaLGAE 


Fig.  40. 


-Hypothetical  tree  of  relationship  and  descent   of  the  leading 
Groups  of  Plants. 


plane  than  its  predecessors,  the  general  line  leading  along 
increasing  adaptation  to  the  land  habit.     Certain  groups,  on 


4IO  THE   TEACHING   BOTANIST 


tn 

0) 

^ 

T> 

a, 

"3 

o 

fC 

£:> 

H 

pq 

'3 


en 


the  other  hand,  appear 

^  ^        never  to  have  occupied 

g.  -2        the  main  line,  but  are 

■g  g        side  branches  from  the 

_Si_,         ^i2_^     other  groups;  the  same 

seems    true    of    Fungi, 

which  are  side  branches 

„         from  several  origins  in 

§  g  g  i      Algae;  of  Mosses,  a  side 


3.„  ?o"S  o^     branch  from  the  Liver- 

w)§  g^l  :-3  I'l  |"i^     worts;  of  Gymnosperms 

and  Monocotyledons  as 
shown  by  the  diagram. 
There  is  still  very  much 
g  S^      doubt  as  to  the  details 

of  the  relationships,  but 


C/1  en 

SJ2  D  bfl 


o  ^-s  o  c 

u,  — 


>    tn  S  J5  -1-1 

«'§>  fci  gx!«  :S|I  think  the  diagram  is 


<  (n         ^  '>3^           fe  u  ffi  cj  E      ii^  conformity,  so  far  as 

' — . —  it    goes,   with   existent 

' ' ' 

^  knowledge. 

S        %  The  students,  in  con- 

en              ~  ' 

5        ^  suiting  dififerent  books, 


B  may  be  somewhat  con- 

^  fused    by    the   various 

3  names   applied   to   the 

>  same  groups.  Hence  the 


c 
o 

60 


t,  42  u^  teacher    may     find    it 

mil  g-S  advantageous    to    give 

g)  ^  ^  S3  them  some  such  scheme 

a  o  c  -SP  as  is  outlined  herewith. 

u  £  These    outhnes,    ob- 


THE   SEED   PLANTS,    OR   SPERMATOPHYTES        411 

viously,  only  lead  up  to  an  understanding  of  the  general 
features  of  the  higher  plants,  but  do  not  attempt  to  guide 
the  student  to  the  very  desirable  further  study  of  them. 
Custom  and  opportunity  impose  very  different  usage  in 
this  matter  in  different  places.  In  case  the  plan  is  fol- 
lowed of  giving  a  whole  year  to  the  study  of  the  groups, 
there  is  then  ample  time  for  much  more  study  of  these 
higher  plants,  and  it  becomes  desirable  to  follow  them 
into  their  subgroups,  families,  etc.,  down  to  the  species. 
This  involves  the  use  of  manuals  for  identification,  and 
field  work,  with  collecting,  on  which  I  have  already  offered 
such  suggestions  as  I  can  upon  earlier  pages  (pp.  45-48). 
Certainly  such  knowledge  of  plants  is  indispensable  to  every 
person  seriously  concerned  with  Botany,  but  its  study  does 
not  seem  to  me  appropriate  for  general  classes  working 
under  usual  conditions.  We  need  to  set  our  investigating 
ingenuity  at  work  upon  this,  as  upon  so  many  others  of  our 
still  unsolved  educational  problems.  But  in  these  very  prob- 
lems there  lies  open  to  every  teacher  a  field  for  investigation 
which  is  not  only  extremely  attractive  but  much  needed  as 
well.  He  who  gives  us  a  new  device  for  the  more  logical 
proof  of  a  fundamental  principle,  better  materials,  appliances, 
or  experiments  for  the  more  illuminating  illustration  of  a 
difficult  topic,  or  more  effective  methods  for  treating  a  recon- 
dite subject,  renders  to  education  a  service  like  his  to 
humanity  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass  grow  where  one 
grew  before. 


APPENDIX 

The  Principal  Standard  or  Unit  Courses  in  General 
Botany  Formulated  by  Representative  Committees 

in  America 

Of  these  there  have  been  four,  of  which  the  two  earUer, 
formulated  by  Committees  of  the  National  Educational 
Association,  viz.  those  in  the  "Report  of  the  Committee  of 
Ten"  (Washington,  1893),  and  the  Report  on  College  En- 
trance Requirements  (Chicago,  1899)  have  been  superseded 
by  the  two  which  follow. 

/.  The  Course  of  the  Botanical  Society  of  America  and 
the  College  Entrance  Examination  Board. 

This  course  is  that  used  by  the  College  Entrance  Examina- 
tion Board  as  a  basis  for  its  examinations  held  annually  in 
June  in  all  the  States  of  the  Union  and  several  foreign  coun- 
tries. The  exartiinations  admit  students  to  most  of  the  col- 
leges and  universities  of  this  country,  as  particularized  in  a 
note  on  a  later  page  (421).  It  was  formulated  in  1901,  after 
extensive  consultation  with  botanical  teachers  throughout  the 
country,  by  a  committee  of  botanical  teachers,  now  the 
Committee  on  Education  of  the  Botanical  Society  of  America 
(consisting  of  W.  F.  Ganong,  of  Smith  College,  F.  E.  Lloyd, 
of  the  Alabama  Polytechnic  Institute,  and  H.  C.  Cowles,  of 
the  University  of  Chicago),  which  committee  is  directed  by 
the  Society  to  recommend  such  changes  as  shall  keep  the 

413 


414 


APPENDIX 


course  in  touch  with  changing  educational  conditions  and 
advancing  educational  opinion.  It  has  been  reprinted,  with 
minor  changes  and  improvements,  four  times,  and  is  here 
reprinted  (with  some  omission  of  prefatory  and  historical 
material)  from  the  fourth  edition,  published  in  The  School 
Review  for  November,  1908  (16,  594),  the  specifications 
being  identical  wdth  those  published  by  the  College  Entrance 
Examination  Board  in  its  official  documents. 

Principles  upon  which  the  Course  is  Formulated 

1.  It  is  founded  upon  the  two  important  Reports  of  the 
National  Educational  Association  —  the  "Report  of  the 
Committee  of  Ten"  (Washington,  1893),  and  the  Report  on 
College  Entrance  Requirements  (Chicago,  1899).  These  have 
been  modified  in  accord  with  the  results  of  more  recent  ex- 
perience, and  the  ad\ace  of  leading  teachers. 

2.  While  intended  primarily  as  an  option  for  entrance  to 
college,  it  is  designed  equally  for  the  education  in  the  high 
school  of  the  general  student  who  can  follow  the  subject  no 
farther;  there  are  in  botany  no  advantages  in  having  the 
college  preparatory  and  the  general  educational  courses 
different,  at  least  none  that  are  at  all  commensurate  with  the 
additional  burden  thus  laid  upon  the  schools. 

3.  It  is  designed  to  yield  a  mental  discipUne  fully  equal 
in  quaUty  and  quantity  to  that  yielded  by  any  other  subject 
studied  for  the  same  length  of  time. 

4.  It  should,  if  possible,  have  as  a  foundation  a  consider- 
able body  of  botanical  fact  learned  through  nature  study  in 
the  lower  schools;  it  should  be  given  in  one  of  the  three  upper 
years  as  part  of  a  four  years'  high  school  course  in  the  sciences; 
it  should  be  considered  and  treated  as  an  elementary  or  pre- 
hminary  course  leading  to  second  courses  in  college,  and 
colleges  accepting  the  option  should  arrange  second  courses 
to  articulate  economically  \\'ith  it. 

5.  The  immediate  plan  of  its  construction  is  very  simple, 
namely,  to  include  those  topics  in  the  leading  divisions  of 
the  subject  which  most  teachers  now  regard  as  fundamental, 


APPENDIX 


415 


whether  for  their  value  in  scientific  training,  or  as  knowl- 
edge; but  the  individual  teacher  is  left  free  to  follow  his 
own  judgment  as  to  sequence  of  topics,  text  and  other  books, 
and  special  methods.  Advice  is  occasionally  offered,  how- 
ever, upon  important  points  in  which  most  teachers  are  now 
known  to  agree. 

6.  It  recognizes  the  existence  of,  and  provides  for,  two 
modes  of  procedure  in  the  sequence  of  topics.  In  one,  which 
is  that  strongly  advised  by  the  committee,  the  general  facts 
of  plant  structure  and  function,  permitting  a  beginning  with 
large  and  famihar  objects  and  phenomena,  are  iirst  studied, 
to  be  followed  later  by  a  study  of  representatives  of  the 
groups  of  plants  from  the  lower  to  the  higher;  in  the  other 
the  study  of  the  groups  is  the  backbone,  as  it  were,  of  the 
course,  which  begins  with  the  lowest  forms  and  introduces 
the  physiological  and  morphological  topics  at  appropriate 
places  in  the  ascending  series.  The  two  modes,  however, 
lead  to  substantially  the  same  result,  and  a  common  examina- 
tion is  practicable  for  both. 

7.  The  amount  of  work  in  the  course  is  designed  to  occupy 
a  year  of  five  periods  a  week  under  good  conditions.  Where 
special  circumstances,  such  as  exceptional  difficulty  of  obtain- 
ing material,  etc.,  prevent  the  completion  of  the  entire  amount 
while  allowing  its  equivalent  in  thoroughness,  it  is  recom- 
mended that  some  of  the  minor  topics  here  and  there  be 
omitted  rather  than  that  the  attempt  be  made  to  cover  all 
superficially.  To  provide  for  this  possibiUty  the  examina- 
tion papers  should  always  include  a  number  of  alternative 
questions. 

8.  The  time  per  week,  inclusive  of  recitation,  preparation, 
and  laboratory  should  be  the  same  as  for  any  other  subject. 
Where  five  periods  a  week,  with  an  hour  of  preparation  for 
each,  are  demanded  for  other  studies,  this  course  should 
receive  the  equivalent  of  two  recitation  periods  with  their 
preparation,  together  with  three  double  (not  six  separated) 
periods  in  the  laboratory.  Variation  from  this  should  be 
towards  a  greater,  not  a  lesser  proportion  of  laboratory  work. 
The  preparation  of  records  of  the  laboratory  work,  in  which 
stress  is  laid  upon  diagrammatically  accurate  drawing  and 
precise  and  expressive  description,  should  be  regarded  as  an 


4l6  .  APPENDIX 

integral  part  of  the  course;  and  these  records,  preferably  in 
a  notebook,  should  be  counted  at  least  one  third  towards  the 
students'  standing. 

9.  The  course  is  arranged  in  two  parts,  each  occupying  a 
half  year  and  complete  in  itself.  This  is  in  part  to  accord 
with  principle  6,  preceding,  and  in  part  to  allow  either  a 
combination  of  a  half  year  of  botany  with  a  half  year  of 
zoology  to  form  a  year's  course  in  biology,  or  else  to  provide 
a  shorter  course  as  needed  in  some  schools.  In  any  case  a 
half-year  course  in  botany  should  consist  of  Part  I  or  Part  II, 
never  of  a  combination  of  both,  a  recommendation  based 
partially  upon  educational  principle  and  partly  upon  the 
practical  difficulty  of  providing  examinations  and  articulating 
later  college  courses  with  such  diverse  combinations. 

10.  The  course  is  intended -to  be  relatively  permanent,  yet 
is  modifiable  in  adaptation  to  changing  educational  condi- 
tions and  the  approved  results  of  experience.  Changes  will 
not,  however,  be  made  for  some  time,  and  not  until  an- 
nounced in  a  fifth  edition  of  this  report.  The  committee  will 
welcome  all  suggestions  and  criticisms. 

Specifications  of  the  Topics  to  be  Studied 

PART    I.      the    general    PRINCIPLES    OF     (a)     ANATOMY    AND 
MORPHOLOGY,    (b)    PHYSIOLOGY  AND  ECOLOGY 

A.  Anatomy  and  Morphology. 

The  Seed.  Four  types  (dicotyledon  without  and  with 
endosperm,  a  monocotyledon,  and  agymnosperm) ;  struc- 
ture and  homologous  parts.  Food  supply;  experimen- 
tal determination  of  its  nature  and  value.  Phenomena 
of  germination  and  growth  of  embryo  into  a  seedling 
(including  bursting  from  the  seed,  assumption  of  posi- 
tion, and  unfolding  of  parts). 

The  Shoot.  Gross  anatomy  of  a  typical  shoot;  including 
the  relationships  of  position  of  leaf,  stem  (and  root), 
the  arrangement  of  leaves  and  buds  on  the  stem,  and  the 


APPENDIX  417 

deviations  (through  Hght  adjustment,  etc.)  from  sym- 
metry. Buds,  and  the  mode  of  origin  of  new  leaf  and 
stem;  winter  buds  in  particular.  Specialized  and 
metamorphosed  shoots  (stems  and  leaves).  General 
structure  and  distribution  of  the  leading  tissues  of  the 
shoot;   annual  growth;   shedding  of  bark  and  leaves. 

The  Root.  Gross  anatomy  of  a  typical  root;  position 
and  origin  of  secondary  roots;  hair  zone,  cap,  and 
growing  point.  SpeciaUzed  and  metamorphosed  roots. 
General  structure  and  distribution  of  the  leading  tissues 
of  the  root. 

The  Flower.  Structure  of  a  typical  flower,  especially  of. 
ovule  and  pollen;  functions  of  the  parts.  Compara- 
tive morphological  study  of  four  or  more  different 
marked  types,  with  the  construction  of  transverse  and 
longitudinal  diagrams. 

The  Fruit.  Structure  of  a  typical  fruit.  Comparative 
morphological  study  of  four  or  more  marked  types  with 
diagrams. 

This  comparative  morphological  study  of  flowers  and  fruits 
may  advantageously  be  postponed  to  the  end  of  II,  and  then  taken 
up  in  connection  with  classification  of  the  Angiosperms. 

The  Cell.     Cytoplasm,  nucleus,  sap  cavity,  wall. 

As  to  the  study  of  the  cell,  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  postponed 
for  consideration  by  itself  after  the  other  topics,  as  its  position  in 
the  above  outline  may  seem  to  imply,  but  it  is  to  be  brought  in 
earlier,  along  with  the  study  of  the  shoot  or  root,  and  continued 
from  topic  to  topic.  Although  enough  study  of  the  individual  cell 
is  to  be  made  to  give  an  idea  of  its  structure  (a  study  which  may 
very  advantageously  be  associated  with  the  physiological  topics 

2E 


4l8  APPENDIX 

mentioned  first  under  B),  the  principal  microscopical  work  should 
consist  in  the  recognition  and  study  of  the  distribution  of  the  lead- 
ing tissues. 

B.  Physiology  and  Ecology. 

Role  of  water  in  the  plant;   absorption  (osmosis),  path  of 

transfer,  transpiration,  turgidity  and  its  mechanical  value, 

plasmolysis. 
Photosynthesis;     Dependence    of   starch  formation    upon 

chlorophyl,  light,  and  carbon  dioxide;  evolution  of  oxygen, 

observation  of  starch  grains. 
Respiration;   need  of  oxygen  in  growth,  evolution  of  carbon 

dioxide. 
Digestion;    Digestion  of  starch  with  diastase,  and  its  role 

in  translocation  of  foods. 
IrritabiUty;   Geotropism,  heliotropism,  a,nd  hydrotropism. 
Growth;   localization  in  higher  plants;   amount  in  elongat- 
ing stems;  relationships  to  temperature. 
Fertilization;   sexual  and  vegetative  reproduction. 

Although  for  convenience  of  reference  the  physiological  topics 
are  here  grouped  together,  they  should  by  no  means  be  studied  by 
themselves  and  apart  from  anatomy  and  morphology.  On  the 
contrary,  they  should  be  taken  up  along  with  the  study  of  the 
structures  in  which  the  processes  occur,  and  which  they  help  to 
explain;  thus,  —  photosynthesis  should  be  studied  with  the  leaf,  as 
should  also  transpiration,  while  digestion  may  best  come  with  ger- 
mination, osmotic  absorption  with  the  root,  and  so  on.  The  stu- 
dent should  either  try,  or  at  least  aid  in  trying,  experiments  to 
demonstrate  the  fundamental  processes  indicated  above  in  italics. 

Modifications  (metamorphoses)  of  parts  for  special  func- 
tions. 
Dissemination.     Cross  pollination. 


APPENDIX 


419 


Light  relations  of  green  tissues;  leaf  mosaics. 
Special  habitats;   Mesophytes,  Hydrophytes,  Halophytes, 
Xerophytes;   CUmbers,  Epiphytes,  Parasites  (and  Sap- 
rophytes), Insectivora. 

The  topics  in  ecology  (particularly  the  first  four  and  in  part 
the  fifth),  Uke  those  in  physiology,  are  to  be  studied  not  by  them- 
selves, but  along  with  the  structures  with  which  they  are  most 
closely  associated,  as  cross  poUination  with  the  flower,  dissemina- 
tion with  the  seed,  etc.  The  fifth  may  most  advantageously  be 
studied  with  G  in  Part  II. 

In  this  connection  field  work  is  of  great  importance,  and,  for 
some  topics,  is  indispensable,  though  much  may  be  done  also  with 
potted  plants  in  greenhouses,  photographs,  and  museum  specimens. 
It  is  strongly  recommended  that  some  systematic  field  work  be 
considered  as  an  integral  part  of  the  course,  coordinate  in  definite- 
ness  and  value  as  far  as  it  goes  with  the  laboratory  work.  The 
temptations  to  haziness  and  guessing  in  ecology  must  be  combated. 

PART  II.      THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  PLANT  GROUPS,  AND 

CLASSIFICATION 

A  comprehensive  summary  of  the  great  natural  groups  of 
plants,  based  upon  the  thorough  study  of  the  structure, 
reproduction,  and  adaptations  to  habitat  of  one  or  two  types 
from  each  group,  supplemented  and  extended  by  more  rapid 
study  of  other  forms  in  those  groups.  Where  living  material 
is  wanting  for  the  latter,  preserved  material  and  even  good 
pictures  may  be  used,  and  a  standard  text-book  should  be 
thoroughly  read.  The  general  homologies  from  group  to 
group  should  be  understood,  though  it  is  not  expected  that 
these  will  be  known  in  detail. 

In  general,  in  this  part  of  the  course,  it  is  recommended 
that  much  less  attention  be  given  to  the  lower  and  incon- 


420 


APPENDIX 


spicuous  groups,  and  progressively  more  to  the  higher  and 
conspicuous  forms. 

Following  is  a  list  of  recommended  types  from  which,  or 
their  equivalents,  selection  may  be  made :  — 

A.  Alg^.     Pleurococcus,    Sphasrella,   Spirogyra,   Vaucheria, 

Fucus,  NemaUon  (or  Polysiphonia  or  Coleochaete). 

B.  Fungi.     Bacteria,  Rhizopus  or  Mucor,  Yeast,  Puccinia 

(or  a  powdery  mildew).  Corn  Smut,  Mushroom. 

Bacteria  and  Yeast  have  obvious  disadvantages  in  such  a 
course,  but  their  great  economic  prominence  may  justify  their 
introduction. 

C.  Lichens.     Physcia  (or  ParmeUa,  or  Usnea). 

D.  Bryophytes.      In  Hepaticae,  Radula  (or  Porella  or  Mar- 

chantia).  In  Musci,  Mnium  (or  Polytrichum  or 
Funaria). 

E.  Pteridophytes.     In  FiUcineae,  Aspidium  or  equivalent, 

including,  of  course,  the  prothallus. 
In  Equisetineae,  Equisetum. 
In  Lycopodineae,  Lycopodium,  and  Selaginella  (or  Isoetes). 

F.  Gymnosperms.     Pinus  or  equivalent. 

G.  Angiosperms.     a  monocotyledon  and  a  dicotyledon,  to  be 

studied  with  reference  to  the  homologies  of  their  parts 
with  those  in  the  above  groups;  together  with  represent- 
ative plants  of  the  leading  subdivisions  and  principal 
families  of  Angiosperms. 

Classification  should  include  a  study  of  the  primary  sub- 
divisions of  the  above  groups,  based  on  the  comparison  of  the 
types  with  other  Uving  (preferably)  or  preserved  material. 


APPENDIX 


421 


The  principal  subdivisions  of  the  Angiosperms,  grouped  on 
the  Engler  and  Prantl  system,  should  be  understood. 

The  ability  to  use  manuals  for  the  determination  of  the  species 
of  flowering  plants  is  not  considered  essential  in  this  course,  though 
it  is  most  desirable.  It  should  not  be  introduced  to  the  exclusion 
of  any  part  of  the  course,  but  should  be  made  voluntary  work  for 
those  showing  a  taste  for  it.  It  should  not  be  Umited  to  learning 
names  of  plants,  but  should  be  made  a  study  in  the  plan  of  classifi- 
cation as  well. 

The  preparation  of  an  herbarium  is  not  required  nor  recom- 
mended except  as  voluntary  work  for  those  with  a  taste  for  col- 
lecting. If  made,  it  should  not  represent  so  much  a  simple  accu- 
mulation of  species  as  some  distinct  idea  of  plant  associations,  or 
of  morphology,  or  of  representation  of  the  groups,  etc. 

[The  examinations  in  Botany  of  the  College  Entrance  Ex- 
amination Board,  held  upon  the  foregoing  course,  are  now 
accepted  by  the  principal  universities  and  colleges  of  the 
country,  especially  in  the  eastern  states.  Those  which  make 
statement  to  this  effect  in  their  official  publications,  so  far  as  I 
happen  to  know  them,  are, — Bryn  Mawr,  California,  Cincin- 
nati, Columbia,  Cornell,  Dartmouth,  Harvard  (although  it  can 
count  for  only  a  half  year),  Illinois,  Leland  Stanford,  Maine, 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  Massachusetts  Agricul- 
tural College,  Mount  Holyoke,  Nebraska,  Northwestern,  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  Rochester,  Simmons,  Smith,  Syracuse,  Washington 
{St.  Louis),  Wellesley,  Wells,  Vermont,  Woman's  College  of  Balti- 
more, Yale  Scientific  School.  And  there  are  doubtless  others 
which  I  have  not  noticed.  Furthermore,  I  am  told  that 
certain  others,  although  making  no  official  statement  thereof, 
will  also  accept  the  Board's  examinations,  and  these  include 
Chicago,  Haverford,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  North  Caro- 
lina, Oberlin,  Wabash,  Williams.  The  number  and  importance 
of  the  institutions  accepting  the  Board's  examinations,  in 
conjunction  with  the  widening  appreciation  of  the  Board's 
work,  indicate  that  the  acceptance  of  these  examinations  in 
Botany  is  now  nearly,  and  soon  will  be  entirely  universal. 


422  APPENDIX 

The  present  importance  of  this  fact  consists  in  this,  that  high 
schools  can  now  give  this  course  in  the  assurance  that  it  can  be 
counted  at  full  value  for  admission  to  the  principal  higher 
institutions.    Note  by  the  author  of  this  book.] 

II.  The  Unit  Course  in  Botany  Formulated  by  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary  Schools 
of  the  North  Central  States. 

This  unit  course  has  been  formulated  by  a  representative 
committee  of  twenty-two  teachers  of  colleges  and  secondary 
schools,  of  which  Professor  O.  W.  Caldwell,  of  the  University 
of  Chicago  is  chairman/  The  personnel  of  the  Committee, 
together  with  some  accoimt  of  its  work,  is  published  in  School 
Science  and  Mathematics  for  October,  1909.  The  unit  was 
formally  adopted  by  the  Association  on  March  25,  1910. 

Definition  (i  unit) 

It  has  been  the  intent  of  the  committee  to  prepare  a  state- 
ment that  is  sufficiently  elastic  to  give  adequate  recognition  to 
all  good  courses  in  high  school  botany,  rather  than  to  present 
a  set  Hne  of  procedure  that  must  be  followed  by  all.  The  work 
that  is  done  should  meet  the  needs  of  the  pupils,  regardless  of 
whether  any  work  is  to  be  done  in  any  higher  institution. 
Emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  quahty  and  quantity  of  the  work 
done,  and  upon  the  preparation  of  the  teacher,  rather  than 
upon  the  particular  things  that  are  to  be  done.  To  this  end 
the  report  considers  the  following :  — 

'    I.  The  purpose  and  content  of  the  course  and  the  time  to  be 
given  to  it. 

'  For  the  opportunity  to  publish  the  unit  in  this  book  I  am  very  much 
indebted  to  the  kind  interest  and  aid  of  Professor  Caldwell. 


APPENDIX  423 

« 

II.  Suggested  plan  of  the  course. 

III.  The  preparation  that  should  be  had  by  the  teacher  of 
botany. 

The  committee  ^^ishes  to  express  its  appreciation  of  the 
work  done  by  the  committee  on  education  of  the  Botanical 
Society  of  America.  This  committee,  pre\aously  working 
as  the  committee  of  the  Society  for  Plant  Morphology  and 
Physiology,  of  the  College  Entrance  Examination  Board, 
and  later  of  the  Botanical  Society  of  America,  has  pubUshed 
four  reports,  the  latest  in  the  School  Review  for  November, 
1908.  These  reports  have  been  most  potent  in  gi\ang  pur- 
pose and  organization  to  the  teaching  of  botany  in  secondary 
schools.  The  unit  statement  here  presented  is  in  agreement 
in  many  respects  with  the  last  report  of  the  above-mentioned 
committee,  but  differs  from  it  in  flexibiHty,  recognition  of  the 
practical  aspects  of  plant  life,  in  definition  of  the  preparation 
of  the  teacher,  and  in  some  other  points.  It  is  hoped  that 
sometime  there  may  be  a  single  statement  of  the  unit  issued 
by  the  two  committees. 

/.  The  purpose  atid  content  of  the  course,  and  the  time  that 
should  be  given  to  it. 

1.  The  ends  to  be  sought  through  an  elementary  study  of" 
plant  Ufe  include  training  in  the  scientific  method  of  thinking, 
particularly  as  relates  to  plant  life,  information  and  a  more 
intelHgent  and  a  more  active  interest  in  natural  phenomena 
in  general,  an  elementary  knowledge  of  fundamentals  of  plant 
life  and  a  better  understanding  of  those  features  and  activities 
of  plants  that  relate  to  everyday  affairs. 

2.  In  determining  the  content,  order,  and  treatment  of  topics 
in  any  individual  course,  the  needs  and  opportunities  of  the 
teacher  and  class  should  be  dominant.  To  this  end  this  state- 
ment includes  the  general  features  of  the  course,  the  teacher 
being  left  at  liberty  to  adopt  such  details  as  best  meet  the  needs 


424  APPENDIX 

of  any  particular  class  of  pupils.  The  quality  and  quantity  of 
work  done  by  the  pupil,  evidence  of  his  ability  to  do  accurate 
and  reliable  work,  and  adequate  preparation  by  the  teacher, 
rather  than  the  specific  content  of  the  course,  are  emphasized. 

3.  There  is  presented  a  general  plan  of  the  "synthetic 
course,"  which  the  majority  of  the  committee  beheves  to  be 
the  best  type,  though  it  is  not  intended  to  restrict  teachers 
to  this  type  of  course.  This  course  embodies  the  elements  of 
morphology  of  the  great  groups  including  the  "lower  forms" 
as  well  as  the  seed  plants,  of  physiology  with  experiments  upon 
plant  acti\^ties,  of  ecology  with  emphasis  upon  class  and  in- 
dividual field  trips,  including  some  acquaintance  with  local 
plants,  of  the  relation  of  plants  to  their  habitat  and  to  men,  of 
food  and  timber  supply,  parasitism,  disease,  decay,  soil  replen- 
ishment, etc.  It  is  recommended,  however,  that  plants  be 
studied  in  an  elementary  way,  leading  into  any  or  all  of  the 
above  aspects,  rather  than  that  the  differentiated  divisions  of 
the  subject  be  taken  up  at  one  time. 

An  elementary  consideration  of  the  relations  of  plants  to 
men,  as  shown  in  plant  and  animal  diseases,  hygiene,  agricul- 
ture, horticulture,  erosion,  decay,  foods,  fibers,  etc.,  should 
be  presented  as  an  organic  part  of  the  study  of  botany.  The 
inclusion  of  these  practical  matters  as  an  organic  part  of  the 
course  rather  than  as  a  number  of  sections  upon  the  applied 
aspects  of  plants,  gives  appreciable  meaning  and  fuller  signifi- 
cance to  the  study.  An  adequate  consideration  of  such  sepa- 
rate applied  sciences  as  agriculture,  forestry,  bacteriology,  and 
horticulture  should  follow  the  general  study  of  plants  and 
animals. 

4.  The  time  requirement  of  the  course  should  be  the  equiva- 
lent of  180  periods  of  at  least  40  minutes  each;  there  should  be 


APPENDIX  425 

two  doubled  periods  per  week  for  laboratory  or  field  work, 
each  of  these  doubled  periods  counting  as  one  period  in  making 
up  the  total  180  periods. 

//.  Suggested  plan  of  the  Course.  This  is  a  plan  for  a 
synthetic  course.  It  suggests  more  material  than  any  one 
year's  work  can  present.  Some  of  the  topics  will  receive  more 
emphasis  at  the  hands  of  teachers  who  prefer  to  treat  briefly 
or  omit  other  topics,  the  ones  selected  for  full  or  brief  treat- 
ment varying  with  different  teachers.  In  order  of  treatment 
consideration  may  first  be  made  of  the  structure  and  function 
of  seed  plants,  or  of  the  characteristics  of  the  great  groups  of 
plants. 

I.  In  beginning  the  course  with  a  study  of  seed  plants,  the 
first  work  may  deal  with  any  of  the  following  topics,  the  one 
selected  for  the  beginning  serving  to  lead  directly  to  others  of 
the  group :  — 

The  structures  of  a  typical  seed  plant  —  roots,  stem,  leaves, 
flowers,  and  seeds  —  and  the  kinds  of  work  done  by  these 
parts. 

How  the  plant  lives  —  elementary  physiological  experi- 
ments, absorption,  root  pressure,  conduction,  transpiration, 
photosynthesis,  relation  of  functions  to  the  structures  by 
means  of  which  they  are  performed. 

The  work  of  leaves. 

The  storage  of  food,  its  relation  to  the  plant;  its  relation 
to  men  and  other  animals. 

Seeds  and  seedhngs;  seed  distribution;  the  establishment 
of  new  plants. 

Acquaintance  with  some  of  the  plants  of  the  locality. 

2.  In  addition  to  the  topics  just  named,  due  to  seasonal 
advantage,  preferences  of  the  teacher,  or  needs  of  the  pupils, 


426  APPENDIX 

the  following  will  at  times  be  found  best  in  this  connection, 
while  in  other  cases  it  will  be  found  best  to  take  up  these  topics 
after  the  consideration  of  the  great  groups:  — 

Relation  of  plants  to  hght,  soil,  water,  atmosphere,  gravity, 
contact,  seasons. 

Growth  and  reproduction. 

Responses  to  different  regions. 

Artificial  control  and  methods  of  improving  agricultural 
and  horticultural  plants. 

Forests,  their  uses,  distribution,  dangers,  and  preservation. 

3.  The  Great  Groups.  In  the  following  outUne,  what 
plants  are  and  what  they  are  doing  in  the  locahty  are  to  be 
kept  prominent,  although  these  matters  cannot  be  studied 
apart  from  plant  structures. 

It  is  recommended  that  detailed  anatomical  work  be  re- 
duced to  the  minimum,  and  that  gross  structures  and  hfe 
habits  be  given  correspondingly  larger  attention.  By  means 
of  demonstrations  many  of  the  details  may  be  made  of  more 
value  than  would  be  true  if  pupils  were  to  try  to  study  out 
these  details  by  means  of  the  compound  microscope.  When 
compound  microscopes  are  available,  some  of  the  structures 
may  be  determined  by  the  pupils,  but  often  it  is  better  ,to 
use  demonstration  microscopes.  A  full  study  of  gross  struc- 
tures will  give  a  good  basis  for  understanding  demonstrations 
through  microscopes,  and  pictures  of  the  important  details. 

c.  Alg^.  General  appearance  and  distribution;  local 
types  studied  with  reference  to  their  places  of  living,  their 
nutritive  and  reproductive  structures  and  habits,  conditions 
controUing  their  growth  and  reproduction.  Two  or  three 
blue-green  forms  as  Nostoc  and  Oscillatoria,  and  such  green 
forms   as   Pleurococcus,    Cladophora,    Spirogyra,   Vaucheria, 


APPENDIX  427 

and  the  desmids.  The  gradations  in  complexity  in  nutri- 
tive and  reproductive  structures  should  be  understood,  but  no 
attempt  at  establishing  a  detailed  evolutionary  series  should 
be  made.  The  characteristics  of  these  forms  should  be  studied 
out-of-doors  and  in  the  aquarium.  Their  distribution  and 
abundance  in  the  locality,  and  their  relation  to  water  suppHes, 
should  receive  attention. 

General  appearance  and  regional  distribution  of  the  red  and 
brown  algae,  but  no  detailed  work  with  them,  is  recommended. 
Gross  characteristics  of  diatoms  in  fresh  water  should  be  noted. 

b.  Fungi.  Some  of  the  following  common  forms  as  types 
of  dependent  plants  —  toadstools  and  mushrooms,  mildews, 
water  mold,  wheat  rust,  corn  smut,  cedar  apples,  etc. 

Parasitic  method  of  living  and  its  helpful  and  harmful  eco- 
nomic significance ;  regulation  and  elimination  of  injurious  fungi. 

Yeasts  and  fermentation. 

Bacteria  studied  chiefly  with  reference  to  life  habits  and 
effects.  Relation  of  the  bacteria  to  decay,  to  soils,  to  legumi- 
nous plants,  to  rotation  of  crops,  and  to  sanitation.  Bacteria 
as  instruments  of  disease.  SteriUzation  as  shown  in  a  study 
of  milk.  Purity  of  milk  and  water  supply.  Relation  of  knowl- 
edge of  bacteria  to  public  hygiene. 

c.  Lichens.  A  type  used  to  illustrate  the  interrelation  of 
algae  and  fungi.  Distribution  of  the  lichens  of  the  locality 
and  their  influence  upon  their  supporting  structures. 

d.  Liverworts.     Life  habits,  distribution,  and  life  cycle. 

e.  Mosses.     Life  habits,  distribution,  and  life  cycle. 

/.  Ferns.  Life  cycle  of  a  true  fern,  stem  and  leaf  in  rela- 
tion to  chlorophyl  work;  perennial  nature;  distribution; 
acquaintance  with  a  few  local  types. 

General  characteristics  of  the  horsetails  and  club  mosses. 


428  .    APPENDIX 

g.  Gymnosperms.  Pine  or  spruce  as  a  type;  habit  of 
tree,  perennial  nature,  twigs  and  stems  of  different  ages,  age 
of  tree,  leaves  and  the  evergreen  habit,  nature  of  the  timber 
and  its  uses;  two  kinds  of  cones  and  the  processes,  time,  and 
structures  involved  in  seed  formation,  nature  of  the  seed,  seed 
distribution,  seedhngs,  and  the  establishment  of  the  new  tree. 

Names  of  other  kinds  of  gymnosperms. 

Gymnosperms  as  source  of  much  of  the  world's  lumber 
supply,  chief  regions  of  gymnosperm  forests,  preservation 
and  extension  of  gymnosperm  forests. 

k.  Angiosperms. 

Life  cycle  as  compared  with  the  gymnosperms. 

Types  of  stem,  root,  leaf,  and  flower  structure,  with  con- 
sideration of  the  special  work,  habits,  and  uses  of  each  of  these. 

Nutritive  and  reproductive  processes  arranged  so  as  to  ex- 
tend whatever  work  was  done  with  seed  plants  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  course.  Work  suggested  at  the  outset  that  was  not 
done  in  that  connection  may  be  included  here. 

PolUnation  and  seed  formation,  number  of  seeds,  seed  dis- 
tribution, seedlings,  vitality  of  seeds,  struggle  for  existence. 

Structures  and  habits  of  plants  of  different  regions. 

Acquaintance  with  plants  of  the  leading  famiUes  in  the 
local  region. 

Angiospermous  forests  (possibly  delay  the  consideration 
of  gymnospermous  forests  until  this  point),  the  local  timber 
supply  either  from  local  forests  or  from  others,  enemies  of  the 
forests,  elementary  forestry  problems,  United  States,  State, 
and  local  private  work  in  forestry. 

Relation  of  plants  to  soil,  water,  light,  temperature,  grav- 
ity, and  other  environmental  factors.  Productive  and  un- 
productive soils  and  cUmates  in  relation  to  agricultural  plants. 


APPENDIX  429 

Diseases  of  plants  and  their  significance.  Artificial  im- 
provement of  plants  through  cultivation,  pruning,  grafting, 
selection,  and  breeding. 

///.    The  Qualifications  of  the  Teacher  of  Botany. 

It  is  beUeved  that  the  teacher  of  botany  in  the  high  school 
should  have  a  minimum  preparation  in  botany  equivalent  to 
two  years  of  college  work.  This  work  should  include  the 
general  morphology  of  the  lower  and  higher  groups,  elemen- 
tary plant  physiology  and  ecology;  zoology,  physiography,  and 
a  course  in  general  bacteriology  are  desirable.  The  teacher 
should  also  have  some  knowledge  of  the  purpose  of  botany  in 
high  school  education  and  of  current  and  desirable  practice  in 
teaching  botany. 

Since  the  teacher  of  botany  usually  teaches  other  sciences 
each  demanding  somewhat  similar  quantity  of  preparation, 
obviously  to  maintain  this  standard  more  general  and  more 
extensive  preparation  needs  to  be  urged.  This  standard  of 
preparation  is  deemed  highly  desirable  in  order  to  give  botany 
its  proper  place  in  secondary  education,  but  it  may  not  always 
be  practicable.  It  is  the  standard  that  should  be  met  by 
those  who  are  now  preparing  to  teach  the  subject. 


INDEX 


Absorption  of  water,  40,  342,  344,  418. 
Aeration  system,  328,  330,  336. 
Aerial  roots,  305. 
Agassiz,  L.,  176. 
Agriculture,  44. 
Albuminous,  267,  269. 
Alcohol,  for  specimens,  153. 
Algje,  41  ;    natural  historj-,  386 ;    ma- 
terials, 388,  420,  426. 
Alternation   of  generations,    400,   401, 

405- 

Aluminum  shells,  332. 

American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  56. 

American  Botanist,  183,  214. 

Analysis  of  flowers,  46. 

Anatomy,  37,  310. 

Andrews,  E.  F.,  208,  214. 

Angiosperms,  study,  406,  420,  428. 

Annual  rings,  338. 

Anthers,  352. 

Anthoceros,  400. 

Apgar,  209. 

Apparatus  for  physiology,  134  ;  types, 
134  ;  firms  suppljdng,  134. 

Aquaria,  125. 

Arthur  and  MacDovgal,  180,  214. 

Arthur,  Barnes,  and  Coulter,  205, 
206,  214. 

Ascomycetes,  395. 

Ascophyllum,  388. 

Assimilation,  40. 

Association  of  Colleges  and  Schools  of 
the  North  Central  States,  422. 

Atkinson,  G.  F.,  189,  199,  208,  211, 
212,  214. 

Autumn  coloration,  288. 

Auxanometer,  371. 

Auxograph,  371. 

Auzorx,  Dr.,  166. 

AzoUa,  404. 


Bacteria,  42  ;  action,  323  ;  study,  393, 
420,  427  ;   material,  397,  398. 

Bailey,  L.  H.,  57,  150,  180,  202,  204, 
206,  208,  214,  215. 

Bailey,  W.  W.,  161,  215. 

Bailey  and  Coleman,  209,  215. 

Balopticon,  169. 

Balthis,  F.  K.,  145. 

Barnes,  C.  R.,  99,  132,  208,  211,  215. 

Basidiomycetes,  396. 

Bates,  Naturalist,  180. 

Bateson,  179. 

Bausch  &  LoMB  Optical  Co.,  vi,  129, 
132,  133,  134.  139.  169. 

Beal,  W.  J.,  191,  215. 

Belt,  Naturalist,  181. 

Bergen,  J.  Y.,  209,  211,  215,  270,  376. 

Bergen  and  Davis,  194,  208,  212,  215, 

391- 

Bessey',  C.  E.,  no,  117,  173,  207,  208, 
212,  216. 

Bibliography,  214. 

BiGELOW,  M.  1.,  209. 

Biology,  28,  36. 

Blaschka  models,  151. 

Bleeding,  350,  356. 

Blue-green  Algae,  393. 

BoDW'ELL,  Bertha,  260. 

Books,  their  use,  176;  botanical,  176; 
reading,  177  ;  for  self-improvement, 
57,  178  ;  biography  and  travels,  179  ; 
essays,  179;  history,  180;  in  li- 
braries, 1 84  ;  for  reference,  1 84  ; 
obsolete,  185;  on  morphologj',  186; 
on  physiology,  188  ;  on  ecologj',  190  ; 
on  plant  geography,  191  ;  English 
only,  192 ;  on  classification,  196 ; 
on  natural  history,  193 ;  popular, 
195;  manuals,  196;  floras,  197;  on 
lower  plants,  198 ;  on  Fungi,  199 ; 
on  Algae,  200 ;   on  cultivated  plants. 


431 


432 


INDEX 


Books  —  continued 

201  ;  sundry,  202  ;  on  teaching,  204  ; 

on    Nature-study,    204 ;    text-books, 

204 ;      laboratory     manuals,      205 ; 

notebooks,  2og. 
Botanical     Gardens,     142 ;      principal 

ones  in  America,  143  ;   labeling,   148. 
Botanical  Gazette,  182,  216. 
Botanical  journals,  181. 
Botanical  Society  of  America,  413,  423. 
Botany,    distinctive   features,    27,    29 ; 

as  training,  34  ;   as  knowledge,  39. 
Bottles  for  reagents,  136. 
Bower  and  Vixes,  211. 
Brendel,  R.,  166. 
Brixton,  N.  L.,  144, 194, 196,  197,  216, 

245- 
Brixton,  W.  E.,  115. 

Brooklyn  Institute,  55. 

Brooks,  S.  D.,  no. 

Brown,  A.,  196,  197,  216. 

Brown,  E.  E.,  34. 

Brown  Alga?,  387. 

Bryophytes,  study,  399,  420,  427. 

Buds,  ecology,  300  ;   morphology,  207. 

BURBANK,  L.,  203. 

BusHEE,  Grace,  84,  324. 

Caldwell,  O.  W.,  vi,  6g,  115,  206,  216, 
391,  422. 

California  University,  56. 

Cambridge  Botanical  Supply  Co., 
107,  135,  139,  140,  162,  389. 

Campbell,  D.,  194,  198,  211,  212,  216. 

Cambium  cylinder,  243,  312,  336,  339. 

Canning,  E.  J.,  vii,  145. 

Carbon  dioxide,  in  air,  301  ;  absorp- 
tion, 302  ;   in  respiration,  316. 

Caulicle,  262. 

Cells,  study,  321,  417. 

Cellular  structure,  39. 

Central  Scientific  Co.,  139. 

Chalaza,  262. 

Chamberlain,  C.  J.,  187,  217. 

Chapman,  A.  W.,  197,  217. 

Chicago  University,  55. 

Chlorophycea;,  386. 

Chlorophyl,  solutions,  84  ;  spectra,  84  ; 
study  of,  284,  286,  418;  extraction 
of,  287;  distribution,  294;  grains,  323. 

Choate,  Helen  A.,  vii. 


Circumnutation,  376. 

Clapp,  Grace,  84,  335. 

Clapp,  H.  L.,  ISO. 

Clark,  C.  H.,  206,  217. 

Clark  Hall,  no. 

Class-room  methods,  86. 

Clements,  F.  E.,  189,  192,  199,  217. 

Clements  and  Cutter,  206,  217. 

Climbers,  307,  419. 

CUnostat,  380. 

Club  Mosses,  401. 

Clute,  W.  N.,  ig8,  206,  214,  217. 

Cold  Spring  Harbor,  56. 

Collecting  instinct,  392. 

Collections,  141. 

College  entrance,  255. 

College  Entrance  Examination  Board, 
organization,  33,  44,  413,  414;  col- 
leges accepting,  421,  423. 

College  entrance  requirements,  12,  24. 

collens,  a.  e.,  152. 

Collins,  F.  S.,  165,  200,  217. 

Companion  cells,  338. 

Comparison,  36,  259. 

Conn,  H.  W.,  200,  217. 

Correspondence  courses,  57. 

Cortex,  311,  339. 

Cotyledons,  262,  275. 

Coulter,  J.  G.,  204. 

Coulter,  J.  M.,  197,  204,  208,  211,  213, 
217. 

Cowles,  H.  C,  413. 

Cronberger,  B.,  150. 

Cross  fertilization,  243. 

Cross  pollination,  361;  study  of,  367, 
368,  418  ;   significance  of,  369. 

Cultural  value  of  science,  13. 

Culture,  8  ;  value,  9  ;  definition,  10,  23. 

Curtis,  C.  C,  187,  212,  218. 

Curves,  104. 

Cycads,  408. 

Cytoplasm,  323,  336,  417. 

D.\me  and  Brooks,  194,  218. 

Darwin,  C,  178, 180,  190, 191,  218, 376. 

DARW^N,  F.,  179,  218. 

Darwin  and  Acton,  189,  218. 

Dawkins,  Boyd,  166. 

Deane,  W.,  152,  160. 

De  Bary,  A.,  186,  199,  218. 

Decay,  323. 


INDEX 


433 


Department  of  Agriculture,  203. 

Detmer,  W.,  189,  219. 

Development  of  seedlings,  283. 

De  Vries,  179,  203,  219. 

Dewey,  J.,  71. 

Dewing,  A.  S.,  209. 

Deyrolle,  166. 

Diagrams  of  flowers,  353. 

Diastase,  278,  282. 

Dicotyledons,  406. 

DifiFerentiation  in  growth,  376. 

Diffusion  shell,  346. 

Digestion,  278,  281,  418. 

Discipline,  value  of,  20. 

Diseases  of  plants,  2<x),  429. 

Dissecting  microscope,  131. 

Dissemination  of  seeds,  243,  272,  274, 
276,  418. 

Dixon  and  Joly,  340. 

Dodel-Port  wall  charts,  170. 

Dodge,  C.  W.,  117,  206,  219. 

Dogma,  70. 

Drawing,  89 ;  pedagogical  value,  89, 
103  ;  essential  nature,  90  ;  student's 
attitude  towards,  91,  97  ;  diagram- 
matic kind,  92  ;  free  hand,  93  ;  paper 
and  pencils,  94  ;  numbers,  94  ;  scale, 
95  ;  labeling,  96  ;  perspective,  98  ; 
use  of  India  ink,  99  ;  modes  of  repro- 
ducing, 99  ;  shading,  100  ;  different 
kinds,  100 ;  with  microscope,  loi  ; 
copying,  102 ;  generaUzed,  102 ; 
preservation  of,  106,  260. 

Drill,  value  of,  21. 

Drupe,  379. 

Ducts,  336,  339. 

duggar,  b.  m.,  200,  219. 

Eaton,  D.  C,  198,  219. 

EcKERSON,  Sophia,  84,  296,  330,  358. 

Ecological  groups,  307,  419. 

Ecology,  definition,  41  ;   of  seeds,  272  ; 

of  flowers,  367  ;  of  fruits,  377. 
Economics,  44. 
Education,  aim,  7,  11  ;  cosmic  basis,  7  ; 

problems,  3,  8  ;  luxurizing  of,  20,  21  ; 

standardization,  34. 
Effort,  value  of,  20,  21. 
Eggeling,  O.,  125. 
Ehrenberg,  F.,  125. 

ElCHLER,  361. 
2F 


EiMER  &  Amend,  139. 

Elective  system,  basis,  17  ;  defects,  19. 

EUmination,  40. 

Eliot,  President,  13,  14,  22,  178,  219. 

Elliott,  L.  B.,  iio,  121. 

Elrod,  M.  J.,  IIS,  117- 

Embryo,  262,  276. 

Embryo  sac,  349. 

Endosperm,  266,  269. 

Engler,  A.,  193,  219. 

Engler  and  Prantl,  193,  219. 

Epicotyl,  277,  281. 

Epidermis,  310,  329. 

Epiphytes,  307,  419. 

EquaHty  of  knowledge,  10,  22. 

Equisetineae,  403,  404. 

Errera  &  Laurent  wall  charts,  171. 

Errors,  prejudicial  to  teaching,  227 ; 
as  to  use  of  Botany,  228  ;  as  to  un- 
tried exercises,  229  ;  as  to  morphol- 
ogy, 230  ;  as  to  phytomera,  232  ;  as 
to  inferior  ovaries,  234  ;  as  to  mon- 
strosities, 234 ;  as  to  relationships 
of  members,  233  ;  as  to  physiology, 
236 ;  as  to  plant  food,  237  ;  as  to 
plant  intelligence,  238  ;  as  to  photo- 
synthesis, 238 ;  as  to  root  pressure, 
241  ;  in  use  of  terms,  242  ;  as  to 
scientific  names,  244  ;  as  to  respira- 
tion, 236. 

Erythrophyl,  288. 

Essays,  105. 

Examinations,  87,  105. 

Excursions,  see  Field  work. 

Exudation  of  water,  356. 

Farlow,  W.  G.,  200,  219. 

Farmer,  J.  B.,  211. 

Fermentation,  323,  326. 

Fernald,  M.  L.,  196,  223. 

Fernow,  B.  E.,  202,  219. 

Fern  Plants,  42,  401,  403. 

Fertilization,  418. 

Fibrovascular  bundles,  300,  336,  337. 

Fibrovascular  system,  311,  328. 

Field  work,  value  of,  49,  87. 

Filicineje,  401. 

Fischer,  A.,  200,  219. 

Fish,  P.  A.,  115,  117. 

Flowers,  clusters,  367,  370  ;   diagrams, 

351,  353;   ecology,  367;  material* 


434 


INDEX 


Flowers  —  continued 
3SO ;  morphology,  359,  360 ;     struc- 
ture, 348,  417- 

Follicle,  379. 

Foods  of  plants,  270,  297,  310. 

Food  substance  of  seeds,  265,  268. 

Forbes,  H.O.,  181. 

Formaline,  152. 

Formation  of  food,  298,  300. 

Form  in  life,  72. 

Frank  &  Tschirch  wall  charts,  171. 

Frost,  W.  D.,  117,  118. 

Fruits,    morphology,    377,    379,    417; 
ecology,  377,  379  ;   materials,  378. 

Fucus,  387,  389,  390. 

Funaria,  400,  401. 

Fungi,  42  ;  study,  393,  420,  427. 

Gametophyte,  400,  402. 

Ganong,  W.  F.,  219,  413. 

Gas  table,  119. 

Gauges  for  root  pressures,  357. 

Geddes,  p.,  180,  219. 

Generalizations,  72. 

Geotropism,  380  ;  study,  382. 

Germination,  276. 

Germination  box,  279. 

Germinators,  342. 

Gibson,  W.  H.,  191,  200,  219. 

GoEBEL,  K.,  186,  219. 

GooDALE,  G.  L.,  154,  188,  220. 

GooDE,  G.  B.,  155. 

Graphs,  104. 

Gratacap,  L.  p.,  155. 

Gravitation,  384. 

Gray,  Asa,  vi,  36,  179,  186,  190,  196, 

197,  199,  201,  205,  208,  220,  245,  269, 

305,  370,  379- 
Green,  J.  R.,  188,  203,  220. 
Green  Algae,  386. 
Greenhouses,  142. 
Groom,  P.  H.,  211. 
Groups,  relationships,  41,  406,  407,  408, 

409. 
Groups  of  studies,  23. 
Group  system,  19. 
Grout,  A.  J.,  198,  199,  220. 
Growing  of  seedlings,  278. 
Growing  points,  344. 
Growth,  40,  367,  418;    study  of,  370; 

graphs,  376. 


Guard  cells,  329,  330. 
Gymnosperms,  405 ;    homologies,  407, 
420,  428. 

Haberlandt,  i8r. 

Halophytes,  307,  419. 

Harpswell,  56. 

Harshberger,  J.  W.,  145,  173. 

Harwood,  W.  S.,  203,  221. 

Hassack  wall  charts,  171. 

Heald,  F.  D.,  173. 

Heliotropism,  380. 

Hemenway,  H.  D.,  14s,  150. 

Hennings,  162. 

Henry  Heil  Chemical  Co.,  139,  140, 

160,  162. 
Hepaticae,  399. 
Herbarium-making,  46,  158  ;   methods, 

160;  sheets,  163. 
Herrick,  F.  H.,  no. 
Heterospory,  403. 
Hilgard,  E.  W.,  202,  221. 
Hilum,  262,  275. 
Hodge,  C.  F.,  50,  204. 
HoLTz,  F.  L.,  204. 
Horsetails,  403. 
Hough,  R.  B.,  164,  194,  221. 
Howard,  O.,  173. 
Howes,  E.  G.,  204. 
Hudson,  W.  H.,  181. 
Humanistic  spirit,  65,  69. 
Humanities  vs.  Sciences,  11,  15,  23. 
Hunter,  G.  W.,  27,  208,  221. 
HtrxLEY,  L.,  179,  221. 
Huxley,  T.  H.,  13,  22, 178,  221. 
Huxley  and  Martin,  205,  211,  221. 
Hydrophytes,  307,  419. 
Hydrotropism,  380  ;  study,  384. 
Hypocotyl,  262,  275,  280. 

Ideals  in  education,  1,7. 
Identification  courses,  46  :  place  of,  48. 
Imagination  in  science,  14,  71. 
Impracticable  exercises,  229. 
Inferior  ovary,  morphology,  360. 
Information,  value  of,  22. 
Insectivora,  307,  419. 
Instruments  and  cases,  133. 
Intelligence  in  plants,  238. 
Interest,  as  pedagogical  method,  68,  72. 
International  Congress,  196,  245. 


INDEX 


435 


Interpretation  of  knowledge,  60. 
Investigation  spirit,   77  ;    by  teachers, 

53,  discussion,  58,  177. 
Iodine  solution,  296. 
Irritability,  40,  238,  377,  380 ;   nature, 

385,  418. 

Jackson,  B.  D.,  203,  221. 

Jordan,  E.  O.,  200,  221. 

JosT,  L.,  188,  221. 

Journal  of  Applied  Microscopy,  221. 

Journals,  botanical,  181. 

Jungermannia,  401. 

Jung  wall  charts,  171. 

Karsten  and  Schenck,  167,  192,  194, 

221. 
Karsten,  G.,  194. 
Kellerman,  W.  a.,  162. 
Kerner  von  Marilai'n,  a.,  191,  221. 
Kerner  and  Olr'Er,  305. 
Klinostat,  see  Clinostat. 
Knott    Sceentitic    Apparatus    Co., 

139,  209. 
Knuth,  K.,  190,  221. 
Kny  wall  charts,  170,  390. 
Kny-Scheerer  Co.,  140,  166,  172. 
Kohl  wall  charts,  171. 
Kraemer,  H.,  203,  213,  221. 

Labels,  for  gardens,  148  ;  for  museums, 
157  ;  for  bottles,  157. 

Laboratorj',  administration,  54 ;  at- 
tractiveness, 66  ;  value,  73  ;  place, 
74;  periods,  74,  415,  424;  divisions, 
74  ;  management,  75  ;  neatness,  75  ; 
spirit,  77  ;  examine  work,  79,  107  ; 
drawing  in,  89 ;  notes,  104 ;  ma- 
terials, 137  ;  ecjuipment,  109  ;  room, 
no;  unit  system,  in;  sizes,  in; 
furniture,  115  ;  tables,  115  ;  chairs, 
118;  arrangement,  1 20 ;  equipment, 
124;  materials,  137  ;  glassware,  137; 
fees,  138 ;  cost  of  equipment,  138 ; 
supply  companies,  139;  use,  174; 
manuals  or  guides,  205. 

Lamarck,  179. 

Lanterns,  168. 

Lantern  slides,  168. 

Leaves,  anatomy,  328,  416 ;  morphol- 
ogy, 303,  416. 


Le.witt,  R.  G.,  208,  222. 

Lectures,  87. 

Legume,  379. 

Leitz,  Ernst,  129,  169. 

Leland  Stanford,  56. 

LeMaout   and   Decaisne,    193,    222, 

361. 
Lenticels,  299,  313. 
Lesquereux  and  James,  198,  222. 
Lichens,  42,  395,  397,  420,  427  ;  nature, 

398. 
Light  screens,  294. 
Liverworts,  42;  Study,  399. 
Living  plants,  251. 
Llo\'d,  F.  E.,  \i,  29,  117,  122,  153,  160, 

204,  413. 
Lloyd  and  Bigelow,  29,  204,  222. 
Lockers,  119. 

Locomotion  of  seeds,  243. 
LocY,  \V.  A.,  180,  222. 
Lo^vsoN,  211. 

Lubbock,  J.,  180,  190,  222. 
Lycopx)dineae,  402,  404. 
Lyman  Plant  Houses,  vii,  143. 

MacBride,  T.  H.,  200,  206,  222. 

MacDonald  College,  151. 

MacDougal,  D.  T.,  180,  188,  189, 
222. 

Macfarlane,  J.  M.,  155. 

MacIlvaine  and  Macad.am,  199,  222. 

Manuals,  196;  use  of,  46,  411,  421; 
more  useful,  49. 

Marchantia,  399,  400. 

Marine  Biological  Laboratory,  55. 

Marsh,  C.  D.,  no. 

Massee,  G.,  199,  222. 

Medullary  rays,  338,  339. 

Megaspore,  352,  407. 

Meier,  W.  H.  D.,  209. 

Mendel,  179. 

Mesophytes,  307,  419. 

Method  in  science,  71. 

Micropyle,  262,  275. 

Microscope,  40;  use  of,  321,  324; 
standardization,  126  ;  optimum  stan- 
dard, 126;  specifications,  127; 
manufacturers,  129  ;  number  needed, 
129;     storage    of,    130;    dissecting, 

131- 
Microspore,  352,  407. 


436 


INDEX 


MiGULA  wall  charts,  171. 

Mildews,  397. 

Minnesota  University,  56. 

MiNOT,  C.  S.,  Ill,  113. 

Models,  166. 

Molds,  394,  397. 

Monocotyledons,  406. 

Monstrosities,  235. 

Morphology,  nature,  37,  293 ;  illus- 
trations, 267 ;  of  seeds,  264 ;  of 
buds,  297 ;  of  leaves,  stems,  and 
roots,  303 ;  of  flowers,  359 ;  of 
fruits,  377. 

Mosses,  42  ;  study,  400. 

MiJLLER,  H.,  190,  222. 

MuRBACH,  L.,  no,  125. 

Murray,  G.,  200,  222. 

Musci,  study,  400. 

Museums,  152 ;  methods,  152 ;  pre- 
servatives, 152  ;  bottles,  153  ;  con- 
tainers, 154;  labels,  155,  157;  plan, 
156;  herbaria,  158;  anatomical 
preparations,  164. 

Mushrooms,  396. 

Mycophytes,  398. 

Myrmecophila,  307. 

National  Education  Association,  20. 

Natural  History,  study,  390. 

Nature,  182,  222. 

Nature,  love  for,  70;  faking,  70. 

N at ure -Study  Revird\  183,  204,  223. 

Nature-study,    status,    4 ;    value,    16, 

414. 
Nectar  glands,  361. 
Nelson,  A.,  197,  223. 
Newell,  Jane  H.,  206,  223. 
Nerw  Phytologist,  183,  223. 
Nodes,  292. 
Noll,  F.,  188. 
Nomenclature,  of  plants,  196 ;    schools 

of,  245. 
Normal  apparatus,  134,  135. 
Nucellus,  262. 
Nucleus,  2,  323,  336. 

Observation,  34  ;  nature,  34  ;  training, 
35,  258. 

(Ecology,  see  Ecology. 

Optimum  course,  nature,  30 ;  desira- 
bility, 32  ;  content,  34,  249. 


Origin  of  Species,  178. 
Orth  wall  charts,  171. 
OsBORN,  H.  F.,  179. 
Osborn,  H.  L.,  154. 
Osmoscopes,  344. 
Osmosis,  340. 

Osmotic  phenomena,  359,  364. 
Osmotic  pressure,  366. 
Osterhout,  W.   J.  v.,  189,  223,  270, 
376. 

OSTERLOH,  P.,   166. 

Outlines,  construction   of,  252  ;    value 

of,  253. 
Ovary,  morphology,  233,  361. 
Ovules,    morphology,     230,    349,    351, 

352- 
Oxygen,  needed   for  growth,  317 ;    re- 
lease, 304,  307. 

Packard,  A.  S.,  179. 

Parasites,  286,  307,  419. 

Parmelia,  395. 

Patterson,  Alice  J.,  204. 

Pearson,  K.,  179. 

Pedagogical  methods,  64,  108. 

Peirce,  G.  J.,  140,  188,  223. 

Pencils,  94. 

Penhallow,  D.  p.,  195,  223. 

Pepoon,  Mitchell  and  Maxwell,  207, 
223. 

Perianth,  3SI  ;  morphology,  353- 

Petals,  351. 

Peter  wall  charts,  171. 

Pfeffer,  W.,  169,  188,  223. 

Phasophyceae,  387. 

Phloem,  339. 

Photographs,  value  of,  167. 

Photosynthesis,  40  ;  study  of,  286,  294, 
418  ;  light  in,  309. 

Photosynthetic  equation,  307  ;  quan- 
tities, 309. 

Photosynthometer,  309. 

Phototropism,  380. 

Phycomycetes,  study  of,  394. 

Phycophytes,  393. 

Phyllotaxy,  285,  291,  292,  293. 

Phytomera,  232,  292. 

Plant  physiology,  experimenting,  37 ; 
processes,  40 ;  teaching  to  large 
classes,  80  ;  logical  quality,  81  ;  con- 
trol   experimenting,    81  ;     fallacious 


INDEX 


437 


experiments,  82  ;  logical  exposition. 
83  ;  studies  on  better  materials,  84  ; 
neatness  in  experimenting,  85  ;  make- 
shift tools,  85  ;  projection  of  experi- 
ments, i6g. 

PiNCHOT,  G.,  202,  223. 

Pines,  405,  407. 

Pistil,  homologies,  352. 

Pitchers,  305,  306. 

Plant  food,  237. 

Plant  World,  183,  223. 

Plasmolysis,  366. 

Plastids,  326. 

Pleurococcus,  386,  388,  391,  392,  393. 

Plumule,  262,  275,  280. 

Poetry  in  laboratories,  70. 

Pollen,  351. 

Polysiphonia,  388,  390. 

Practical  training,  8. 

Pressure  gauges,  357. 

Prothallia,  material,  404. 

Protoplasm,  39,  322. 

Protoplasmic  streaming,  84,  324. 

Psychology,  54. 

Pteridophytes,  study,  401,  420,  427. 

Racks  for  diagrams,  118. 
Radicle,  262. 

Randolph,  Harriet,  206,  223. 
Raphe,  262,  275. 

Records  of  work,  preservation,  106. 
Red  Alga;,  388. 
Reed,  H.  S.,  153- 
Reflectoscope,  169. 
Reichert,  C,  129. 
Religion,  70. 
Reproduction,  40. 
Requirements  in  study,  18. 
Respiration,  40,  312,  314,  418;    quan- 
tities, 320. 
Respiratory  equation,  320. 
Respiroscopes,  317. 
Responsibility,  value  of,  21. 
Rhodophyceas,  388. 
Rhodora,  182,  223. 
Riccia,  400. 

RiKER,  mounts,  160;  press,  162. 
Robinson,  B.  L.,  161,  196,  197,  223. 
Romanes,  G.  J.,  179. 
Root  absorption,  349,  356. 
Root-cap,  344. 


Root,  pressures,  84  ;   exudation,  84. 
Roots,  anatomy,  341,    417;    morphol- 
ogy, 303,  41 7- 
RosTowzEW,  S.,  117,  162. 
Rusts,  397. 

Saccharomycetes,  394. 

Sachs,  179,  203,  211,  223. 

St.   Louis   Biological   Laboratory, 

140,  i65j  168. 
Salvinia,  404. 
Sap  ascent,  340. 
Saprophytes,  307. 
Sargent,  C.  S.,  194,  224. 
Sargent,  F.  L.,  202,  224. 
Schenck,  H.,  194. 
Schimper,  a.  F.  W.,  167,   191,    224, 

305- 

Schizomycetes,  393. 

Schneider,  A.,  199,  224. 

School  Gardens,  150. 

School  Science,  183,  224. 

Science,  182,  224. 

Science,  definition,  13 ;  knowledge 
value,  14. 

Sciences,  classification,  26 ;  vs.  hu- 
manities, II,  23. 

Scientific  conventions,  56,  63. 

Scientific  method,  definition,  34. 

Sclerenchyma,  338. 

Scott,  D.  H.,  203,  224. 

Scutellum,  269. 

Sedg\\7Ck  and  Wilson,  205,  224. 

Seed  coat,  262,  275. 

Seed  Plants,  42  ;   study,  405. 

Seedlings,  276. 

Seeds,  structure,  257  ;  collecting,  263  ; 
ecology,  272  ;  morphology,  264,  416, 
425 ;    adaptations,    275 ;   essay    on, 

275- 
Selaginella,  402,  404,  405. 
Semi-permeable  membranes,  347,  367. 
Sepals,  351. 

Setchell,  W.  A.,  206,  224. 
Seward,  A.  C,  179. 
Sex  organs,  244. 
Shoot,  233,  416. 
Sieve  tubes,  336,  338,  339. 
Small,  J.  K.  197,  224. 
Smith,  J.,  202,  224. 
Smuts,  397. 


438 


INDEX 


SOLEREDER,  H.,   l86,   224. 

Solms-Laubach,  203,  224. 

sorauer,  p.,  1 88,  225. 

Space  markers,  371. 

Spalding,  V.  M.,  206,  225. 

Spectroscope,  310. 

Spencer  Lens  Co.,  129. 

Spermatophytes,  405,  407. 

Spines,  305. 

Spirogyra,  389,  392,  393. 

Sporophyls,  morphologj',  230. 

Sporophyte,  400,  401. 

Spotton,  H.  B.,  208,  225. 

Spruce,  R.,  181. 

Stamen  hairs,  323. 

Stamens,  morphology,  352. 

Standard  course,  250,  413. 

Starch  formation,  84,  290. 

Stems,  anatomy,  335,  416 ;  morphol- 
ogy, 303,  416. 

Stereopticons,  168. 

Stevens,  W.  C,  187,  211,  225. 

Stoelting  Co.,  135,  139. 

Stomata,  243,  313,  331,  335;  numbers 
and  sizes,  84,  330. 

Stone,  G.  E.,  hi,  152. 

Stoneman,  Bertila,  211. 

Strasburger,  E.,  57, 187, 188, 194,  225. 

Strasbvtsger,  Noll,  Schenck,  and 
Karsten,  213,  225. 

Strophiole,  262. 

Students,  dull  and  bright,  76. 

Summer  schools,  value,  54,  55. 

Supply  Companies,  139. 

Symbionta,  307. 

Synthate,  290. 

Synthetic  course,  43,  424. 

Teacher,  training,  25,  52  ;  qualities,  26  ; 

progress,  60,  62,  179;  characteristics, 

61,  65,  66;  qualifications,  429. 
Teaching,  of  sciences,   24 ;    attributes, 

63;   simplicity,  67;   interest,  68,  72; 

methods,  73  ;  devices,  78. 
Technical  schools,  efficiency,  20. 
Tendrils,  305. 

Testing  of  probabilities,  37. 
Te.xt-books,  204. 
Thallus,  387. 

Theorizing  in  Biology,  273. 
Thome,  211. 


Thompson,  A.  T.,  Co.,  169. 

Tissues  diagram,  314. 

Tissue   systems,    310,    312,    337,    338; 

table  of,  339. 
Torreya,  182,  225. 
Torrey  Club  Bulletin,  182,  216. 
Tower  microphotographs,  171. 
Tracy,  Martha,  173. 
Transfer  of  water,  337,  340,  418. 
Transpiration,  329  ;  quantities,  84,  334, 

418;  study,  331,  335. 
Transpirograph,  334. 
Transport,  40. 
Tread  WELL,  A.  L.,  no. 
Tree  of  relationship,  409. 
Tubers,  305. 
TuBEUF,  von,  200,   225  ;    wall  charts, 

170. 
Tufts  College,  56. 
Turgidity,  364,  418. 
Twigs,  297. 

Underwood,  L.  M.,  198,  199,  225. 

Unit  courses,  44. 

Vacuoles,  323. 
Vaucheria,  386,  389,  392. 
Verworn,  M.,  188,  225. 
Vines,  S.  H.,  211,  213,  225. 
Vocational  education,  9. 
Voichtlander,  129. 

Wahl,  M.,  226. 

Wall  charts,  or  diagrams,  sets  for  sale, 

170;    home  made,  172;    storage  of, 

173- 
Wallace,  A.  R.,  180,  226. 
Ward,  H.  M.,  203,  226. 
Wardian  cases,  122. 
Ware  collection  of  models,  151,  166. 
Warming,  E.,  192,  194,  226. 
Warren,  G.  F.,  202,  226. 
Washington  University,  56. 
Water  transport,  337,  340. 
Waters,  C.  E.,  198,  226. 
Watson,  S.,  197. 
Weed,  C.  M.,  191,  226. 
Weismann,  179. 
Whitall  Tatltj  Co.,  139,  154. 
Wilder,  H.  H.,  117. 
Williams  Brown  &  Earle,  139,  169. 


INDEX 


439 


Willis,  J.  C,  202,  226. 

Window  gardens,  122,  145. 

Winter  buds,  297. 

Woods,  A.  F.,  152. 

Woods    Hole    Biological    Laboratory, 

140. 
Wood  sections,  164. 
Wright,  F.  R.,  117. 
Wylie  R.  B.,  iio. 


Xanthophyl,  288. 
Xerophytes,  307,  419. 
Xylem,  339- 

Yeasts,  42,  323,  420,  427  ;   study,  394; 
material,  397. 

Zeiss,  Carl,  129,  169. 
Zoology,  27,  29. 


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